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AN    EIRENIC   ITINERARY 


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JOACHIM  m.,  ECUMENICAL  PATRIARCH  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE 


AN 

EIRENIC  ITINERARY 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  OUR  TOUR  WITH 
ADDRESSES  AND   PAPERS  ON 
THE  UNITY  OF   CHRIS- 
TIAN CHURCHES 


BY 
SILAS   McBEE 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

39    PATERNOSTER    ROW,    LONDON 

NEW  YORK,  BOMBAY.  AND  CALCUTTA 

19II 


COPYRIGHT,     191I,    BY 
LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO, 


THE  •   PLIMPTON  •   PKESS 

[  W  D-o] 
NORWOOD  •  MASS  •  U  •  S  •  A 


TO 

THOSE  WHO  SENT  AND  TO  THOSE 

WHO  RECEIVED  ME 


CONTENTS 

Introduction ix 

I.    New  York  to  Berlin 3 

II.    Russia 14 

in.    Russia  to  Italy 45 

IV.    Egypt 58 

V.    Palestine  and  Syria 69 

VI.    Rome  to  Constantinople   ....  98 
Vn.    Close    of    our    Tour  —  France    and 

England 126 

VIII.    Conclusions 148 


ADDRESSES    AND    PAPERS 

The  Family  of  God    . 
Co-operation  and  Unity  . 
Relations  between  Churches 
The  Priesthood  of  the  Laity 
Adjusting  the  Church 
The  Unity  of  Christian  Churches 


169 
176 
182 
190 
198 
205 


INTRODUCTION 

X  HE  tour  through  Europe  and  the  Near 
East,  the  impressions  of  which  are  the  occasion 
and  form  the  larger  part  of  this  volume,  was 
not  an  isolated  experience.  It  was  one  in  a 
long  series  of  efforts,  covering  many  years,  to 
know  the  mind  and  genius  as  well  as  to  under- 
stand and  to  feel  the  spirit  of  the  dismembered 
sections  of  Christendom.  These  efforts  have 
now  brought  me  in  touch  with  representatives 
of  practically  every  type  of  organized  Chris- 
tianity. I  have  talked  to  others  and  they  have 
talked  to  me  with  an  unusual  measure  of  frank- 
ness which  has  been  the  more  unreserved  be- 
cause I  have  had  the  privilege  of  worshipping 
with  them.  This  principle  of  action  is  very 
far-reaching  and  is  not  without  its  difficulties 
and  grave  dangers.  Not  the  least  of  these  is 
the  danger  of  allowing,  for  the  sake  of  the  end 
in  view,  the  wearing  away  of  clearly  marked 
lines  of  principle  and  conviction,  for  to  reduce 
principle    and    conviction    to    indifference    by 


X  INTRODUCTION 

compromise  is  worse  in  effect  than  to  yield 
them  in  open  conflict.  But  where  the  integrity 
of  the  Church  is  at  stake  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers are  invitations  to  action,  rather  than 
warnings  to  be  heeded  by  running  away.  To 
stop  short  of  seeking  this  higher  and  truer 
knowledge  of  other  communions  is  in  reality 
to  rest  in  the  letter  and  to  miss  the  spirit  —  to 
allow  attention  to  be  concentrated  on  differences 
and  to  lose  sight  of  agreements  that  are  vital. 
The  real  content  and  spiritual  value  of  the  dis- 
membered Communions  of  Christendom  will 
only  be  understood  and  appreciated  in  the 
worship  which  represents  their  spiritual  ideals 
and  aspirations. 

This  principle  I  have  acted  on  for  years  and 
it  has  opened  more  doors  than  one  could  have 
hoped  for.  It  is  positive  and  constructive. 
It  demands  a  knowledge  of  others  at  their  best, 
and  a  faith  in  them  at  their  best,  without  in 
any  degree  failing  to  take  accoimt  of  differ- 
ences —  far  less  of  ignoring  them.  The  right 
to  differ  is  an  essential  condition  of  growth  and 
it  is  equally  an  essential  condition  of  vital 
unity.  The  deprivation  of  the  right  to  differ 
would  mean  the  destruction  of  variety  and  the 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

establishment  of  uniformity  and  that  would 
mean  a  death  blow  to  all  growth.  Unity  as 
the  primary  note  of  the  Church  connects  and 
relates  the  life  of  the  individual  with  that  of 
the  whole  Christian  community  and  is  the  only 
sure  guarantee  of  individual  and  collective 
liberty.  Unity  in  variety  is  the  gift  of  God. 
It  safeguards  the  right  to  differ  and  to  hold 
sacred  differing  and  different  convictions  so 
long  as  these  differences  are  kept  in  their  true 
perspective,  so  long  as  they  are  limited  to  the 
sphere  of  human  knowledge  and  power,  and 
are  not  projected  beyond  that  sphere  as  if  man 
could  place  limitations  upon  God.  This  princi- 
ple calls  for  the  living  application  of  the  love 
that  believes  all  things  in  the  face  of  having  to 
endure  all  things.  It  seeks  to  apply  the  family 
idea  to  a  broken  and  dismembered  Christendom 
as  the  governing  principle  of  the  Church's  life 
and  as  an  essential  condition  of  manifesting 
Christ  to  the  whole  world. 

It  matters  not  where  or  in  what  direction, 
ecclesiastically  or  geographically,  this  principle 
is  presented,  it  commands  attention.  The 
individual  and  the  institution  are  made  for 
each  other,  they  are  bound  together  as  irrevo- 


3di  INTRODUCTION 

cably  in  God's  purpose  and  plan  as  is  His 
creation  everywhere.  But  "individualism"  and 
"institutionalism"  would  divorce  this  union  of 
God's  making  and  force  the  battle  of  one  against 
the  other  to  the  increasing  damage  of  both. 
The  unity  of  hfe  in  its  infinite  variety,  the 
oneness  of  the  Church,  not  merely  in  spite  of, 
but  rather  because  of  the  variety  and  richness 
of  individuality  —  of  personality,  is  the  govern- 
ing principle  of  Christianity  and  is  in  reality 
shaping  the  hfe  of  nations  and  of  peoples. 

When  nearly  seven  years  ago  wholly  unex- 
pected circumstances  gave  me  the  privilege  of 
an  audience  with  His  Holiness,  Pius  X.,  I  was 
prepared  in  a  peculiar  sense  for  this  new  experi- 
ence, an  experience  at  the  opposite  pole  of  that 
of  my  earher  life.  It  came  at  a  time  when  my 
interest  in  Protestant  Christianity  was  deepest 
and  most  hopeful  because  of  its  amazing  mis- 
sionary initiative.  Moreover  I  had  come  to 
believe  that  many  of  its  greatest  students  were 
recognizing  the  divisive  principle  involved  in 
the  negative  side  of  Protestantism,  and  were 
feeling  on  the  positive  side  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  a  constructive,  historic  basis  for  a  com- 
mon, a  universal  Christianity.     My  attitude 


INTRODUCTION  xiii 

was  fully  understood  by  those  Roman  Catholics 
whose  hospitahty  I  shall  never  forget.  My 
reception  by  the  Pope  and  the  formation  of 
intimate  friendships  with  representative  Roman 
Catholics  in  Italy  and  France  closed  no  ave- 
nues and,  so  far  as  I  know,  raised  no  serious 
prejudices  in  the  minds  of  friends  in  the  Prot- 
estant Churches  at  home.  My  impression  is 
that  the  friendships  in  both  directions  far  from 
being  interfered  with  were  enriched  and  in- 
tensified by  these  experiences,  because,  in  the 
intervening  years,  those  acquaintances  and 
friendships  have  been  extended  widely  in  both 
directions  at  home  and  abroad. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Bishop  Bonomelli's 
statesmanlike  letter  which  I  read  to  the  Edin- 
burgh Conference  was  not  an  isolated  or  spas- 
modic act  either  on  his  part  —  it  was  in  line 
with  the  development  of  his  long  and  wonder- 
ful life  —  nor  on  my  own.  Circumstances  and 
conditions  that  had  been  shaping  and  directing 
my  efforts  for  years  made  it  a  perfectly  normal 
thing  for  me  to  ask  the  Bishop  of  Cremona,  a 
Bishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to 
address  a  letter  to  the  World's  Missionary 
Conference  at  Edinburgh. 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

Of  my  latest  experience  the  "Impressions" 
speak  for  themselves.  This  tour  added  some 
of  the  richest  experiences  of  a  lifetime  in  afford- 
ing the  privilege  of  knowing  the  Russian  Church 
and  most  of  the  Eastern  Orthodox  Churches 
as  well  as  the  Coptic  and  Armenian  Churches. 
These  papers  were  written  with  no  thought  of 
their  appearance  in  a  volume  but  as  impressions 
made  upon  one  who  was  endeavouring  to  look 
at  the  whole  of  Christendom  as  a  unit  in  Christ, 
having  a  common  Father  and  a  common  Saviour, 
into  whom  all  had  been  bom  by  baptism. 
They  are  here  collected  in  deference  to  the 
wishes  of  those  in  many  countries  who  have 
laid  me  imder  such  lasting  obligation  by  their 
cordial  co-operation  that  their  simple  request 
is  equivalent  to  a  command. 

I  have  nowhere  advocated  a  scheme  for  unity. 
I  know  of  none  that  would  be  or  could  be  made 
adequate.  Surely  no  man-made  plan  or  sys- 
tem can  be  substituted  for  the  organic  law  of 
the  one  Church,  of  the  one  Christ,  for  the  whole 
of  mankind.  It  was  because  of  the  creation 
of  systems  that  isolation  and  separation  began. 
It  is  by  systems  that  Christendom  continues 
divided.    Wherever  I  went  and  wherever  ways 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

were  opened  they  were  opened  to  the  principle 
for  which  I  stood,  the  unity  of  the  Church  as 
the  fundamental  principle  of  the  Family  of 
God  —  for  an  open  door  of  understanding  and 
better  feeling  and  closer  co-operation  no  matter 
how  infinitesimal  the  beginnings  may  be.  This 
principle  and  this  principle  alone,  I  am  per- 
suaded, accounts  for  the  fact  that  so  many 
doors  were  opened,  that  receptions  were  so 
cordial,  the  interchange  of  ideas  so  frank  and 
unreserved,  so  sympathetic  and  so  vital.  I 
shall  revert  to  this  principle  with  certain  con- 
crete illustrations  in  the  concluding  chapter  of 
this  volume. 


AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 


NOTE 

JL  HE  Impressions  that  follow  were  originally 
written  for  The  Churchman,  New  York,  of  which 
the  author  is  the  editor.  The  introduction  and 
concluding  chapters  are  new.  The  journey  was 
Midertaken  at  the  instance  of  Dr.  John  R.  Mott 
and  in  connection  with  the  World's  Student 
Christian  Federation  at  Constantinople. 


AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

CHAPTER  I 

NEW   YORK  TO  BERLIN 

Our  party  —  Dr.  and  Mrs.  John  R.  Mott, 
the  Secretaries,  Messrs.  Jenkins  and  Fields, 
Mrs.  McBee  and  I  —  sailed  from  New  York 
January  i8,  1911,  at  9  a.m.,  on  the  "Lusitania." 
The  voyage  proved  a  record-breaking  one  for 
the  ship  sailing  eastward.  It  was  quicker  by 
one  hour  and  twenty  minutes  than  any  former 
trip,  in  spite  of  two  days  of  stormy  weather, 
while  her  last  day's  run  of  608  miles  was  seven 
miles  faster  than  any  former  day,  and  only  three 
less  than  the  "Mauretania,"  that  holds,  at  611 
miles,  the  record.  The  weather  and  the  great 
ship  combined  to  give  us  one  of  the  most  com- 
fortable and  delightful  crossings  in  our  experi- 
ence. We  also  had  on  board  the  Secretary  of 
the  Continuation  Committee  of  the  Edinburgh 
Conference,  Mr.  Oldham,  and  Mrs.  Oldham. 
With  three  members  of  that  committee  on  the 
3 


4  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

ship  —  the  Chairman,  Dr.  Mott,  the  Secretary, 
Mr.  Oldham,  and  myself,  there  was  ample 
occasion  for  full  and  frank  discussion  of  the 
grave  responsibilities  and  inspiring  opportunities 
that  the  committee  must  face. 

On  Monday,  January  23,  the  captain  invited 
us  to  his  room.  After  giving  us  the  record  for 
the  trip,  and  that  day's  run  of  608  miles  (it  had 
not  yet  been  posted),  he  asked  us  to  tell  him  of 
our  mission.  Captain  Charles  listened  with 
interest  to  our  story,  but  with  no  signs  of  en- 
thusiasm, till  we  reached  the  subject  of  united 
effort  on  the  part  of  all  the  Churches  of  Chris- 
tendom. That,  he  said,  is  the  subject  of  the 
future.  His  whole  manner  changed  as  the 
whole  manner  of  Christendom  will  change, 
when  once  the  duty  of  bearing  a  united  witness 
to  the  whole  world  is  accepted  and  attempted. 
We  took  that  incident  as  an  earnest  of  our  work 
for  the  coming  months. 

The  anchor  was  cast  at  Fishguard  at  3:30 
P.M.,  and  we  were  in  our  hotel  in  London  before 
eleven  that  night.  The  next  three  days  in  Lon- 
don were  full  to  overflowing,  but  they  were 
days  to  be  remembered.  The  weather  was  such 
as  we  have  seldom  seen  there  in  winter,  and 


NEW  YORK  TO  BERLIN  5 

the  company  of  men  gathered  for  the  various 
meetings  for  conference  (there  were  no  public 
meetings  or  speaking)  is  not  often  seen  except 
at  world  gatherings.  Not  to  mention  Americans 
and  Englishmen,  Dr.  Richter,  the  authoritative 
writer  on  Missions  in  India  and  the  Near  East, 
was  there  representing  Germany  on  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Continuation  Committee, 
and  Count  von  Moltke,  Chamberlain  to  the  late 
King  of  Denmark,  representing  his  country  in 
the  same  capacity,  while  Dr.  Karl  Fries  came 
from  Sweden  to  attend  a  meeting  of  the 
Committee  of  the  World  Student  Christian 
Federation. 

Dr.  Mott  and  I  had  a  conference  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury  covering  two  sub- 
jects —  the  work  of  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee and  our  tour.  Archbishop  Davidson 
gave  his  full  and  hearty  sympathy  and  approval 
in  both  directions.  His  discussion  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  and  its  Continuation 
Committee  was  vigorous  and  courageous  and 
hopeful.  I  never  felt  the  elements  of  essential 
greatness  in  the  Archbishop  so  strongly.  It 
was  more  than  advice,  more  than  abstract  and 
general  approval.     It  was  a  clear  outline   of 


6  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

constructive  policy  looking  to  the  steady  develop- 
ment of  better  understanding,  better  feeling 
and  better  relations  between  Christian  Churches 
everywhere. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Innes,  first 
secretary  of  the  British  Embassy  in  Washing- 
ton, who  had  served  for  years  under  him  in 
Egypt,  Lord  Cromer  invited  me  to  his  home 
and  gave  information  that  will  be  of  value  in 
Egypt  and  in  all  judgments  of  Egyptian  affairs. 
With  the  understanding  that  the  interview  was 
not  to  be  published.  Lord  Cromer  spoke  with 
a  frankness  he  could  not  otherwise  have  done. 
His  long  and  brilliant  experience  is  of  inestimable 
value  without  regard  to  whether  one  agrees  or 
disagrees  with  his  point  of  view.  It  was  more 
than  gratifying  to  hear  his  estimate  of  some 
American  missionaries.  Of  the  late  Dr.  Harvey 
and  of  Dr.  Watson  he  spoke  in  strong  terms. 
"Dr.  Watson,"  he  said,  "has  the  confidence  of 
everyone  and  will  be  of  more  help  than  I  could 
be  in  your  work." 

At  the  Bible  House  I  met  Bishop  Tucker,  of 
Uganda,  through  the  thoughtfulness  of  Dr. 
Ritson,  secretary  of  the  British  and  Foreign 
Bible  Society.    The  bishop  left  a   committee 


NEW  YORK  TO   BERLIN  7 

meeting  and  gave  me  time  enough  to  feel  the 
power  and  inspiration  of  his  rare  personaUty. 
He  used  stirring  words  about  Mr.  Roosevelt's 
visit  to  Uganda.  There  is  no  courage  greater 
and  no  cheerfulness  brighter  or  happier  than 
that  of  a  truly  great  missionary,  and  there  is 
nothing  strange  about  it.  He  is  in  will  and 
deed  working  with  God  in  Christ  reconcihng 
the  world,  and  he  knows  it. 

Dr.  Mott  and  I  visited  Sir  Edward  Grey  at 
the  Foreign  Ofi&ce.  I  had  often  seen  and  heard 
Sir  Edward  in  the  House  of  Commons.  It  is 
one  thing  to  see  from  the  gallery  of  the  House 
and  quite  another  to  see  face  to  face.  The 
combination  of  charm  and  force  in  the  man  at 
once  explains  the  respect  in  which  the  Foreign 
Office  is  held  by  men  of  all  parties  at  home  and 
abroad.  For  about  forty  minutes  he  entered  into 
our  plans  and  purposes  and  has  taken  steps  that 
will  be  simply  invaluable  to  the  work  in  hand. 
Ambassador  Bryce,  he  told  us,  had  also  written 
him  at  length  and  most  sjonpathetically  of 
our  journeyings.  When  we  were  leaving  Sir 
Edward  asked  that  he  be  informed  in  advance 
of  our  return  to  London  in  May  in  order  that  he 
might  arrange  to  hear  a  report  of  the  tour. 


8  AN   EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

There  are  others  to  whom  we  owe  much  but 
of  whom  it  would  be  difficult  to  speak  without 
being  too  personal,  and  a  record  of  all  our  doings 
in  those  three  days  would  outrun  the  Umits  of 
this  correspondence. 

Mr.  Phillips,  in  charge  of  the  American 
Embassy  while  Mr.  Reid  is  in  America,  had 
not  received  President  Taft's  letter,  which  in 
some  unaccountable  way  had  miscarried,  but 
did  everything  for  us  in  his  power.  He  even 
cabled  the  President  and  got  the  day  we  left 
England  a  cable  from  Mr.  Taft  repeating  what 
he  had  written  before  we  left  New  York.  We 
were  put  under  lasting  obHgations  to  Mr. 
Phillips,  whose  initiative  did  so  much  to  set 
forward  our  work  now  and  to  prepare  for  that 
which  is  to  come  in  May. 

To  President  Taft,  members  of  the  Cabinet, 
and  the  British  and  German  Ambassadors  we 
are  indebted  for  letters  and  other  help  that  it 
would  be  futile  to  attempt  to  estimate. 

One  further  matter  commands  attention. 
The  night  before  leaving  London  I  was  invited 
to  dinner  by  Baron  von  Hiigel,  the  distinguished 
layman  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  and  one 
of  its  great  scholars.    He  is  not  a  new  friend. 


NEW  YORK   TO   BERLIN         9 

His  health  has  greatly  improved  since  my  visits 
to  him  last  year  and  he  seems  a  new  man.  That 
evening,  January  25,  191 1,  will  remain  a  self- 
reviving  memory.  When  the  Abbe  Bremond 
first  gave  me  a  letter  to  Baron  von  Htigel  he 
said,  "You  will  find  on  his  shoulders  the  most 
Teutonic  head  you  have  ever  seen."  My 
readers  will  readily  believe  I  found  what  the 
Abbe  described.  When  I  arrived  the  Baron 
had  only  a  few  minutes  before  received  a  letter 
from  the  Bishop  of  Southwark  thanking  him 
for  his  congratulations  on  the  bishop's  transla- 
tion to  Winchester.  The  friendship  between 
these  two  scholars  and  unflinchingly  loyal 
Christians  is  a  type,  a  very  high  and  rare  type 
I  admit,  of  what  is  coming  to  pass  in  all  parts  of 
Christendom.  The  leaven  is  at  work  and  aU 
the  powers  of  evil  cannot  withstand  it.  Von 
Hiigel  may  be  persecuted,  and  that  by  honest 
men  in  his  communion  (it  requires  honest 
men  to  do  persecution  to  perfection),  but  I 
venture  nothing,  nor  will  anyone  else  who 
reads  his  great  book,  "The  Mystical  Elements 
in  Religion,"  when  I  say  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  probably  never  had  a  son 
more  loyal  to  catholicity,  nor  a  more  imwaver- 


lo  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

ing  believer  in  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God  and 
Son  of  Man. 

In  Holland.  —  From  London  we  went  via 
Harwich  and  the  Hook  of  Holland  to  meet  the 
students  of  Holland  and  the  Netherlands  at 
Utrecht,  on  January  27. 

When  I  reached  Utrecht  the  selection  of  six 
students  to  represent  Holland  at  Constantinople 
had  been  made,  and  I  was  invited  to  meet  them 
with  Dr.  Mott.  A  sturdier  body  of  men  in 
mind  and  character  it  would  be  difficult  to  find. 
Dr.  Rutgers  had  taken  his  D.D.  in  course  before 
applying  for  ordination,  and  Mr.  Gunning, 
whom  I  met  at  Edinburgh,  has  a  reserve  force 
combined  with  a  patient  enthusiasm  that  com- 
pels a  sturdy  faith  and  sure  hope.  And  the 
others  seemed  cast  in  the  same  mould.  Mr. 
Gunning  has  just  graduated  and  has  planned  a 
campaign  covering  three  years,  in  the  confident 
expectation  that  he  can  organize  a  Laymen's 
Missionary  Movement  in  Holland. 

Edinburgh  was  a  living  influence  in  the  lives 
of  the  men  who  came  together  at  Utrecht. 

In  Germany.  —  A  night's  travel  brought  us 
to  Berlin,  where  another  interesting  body  of 


NEW  YORK  TO  BERLIN  ii 

students  and  scholars  had  gathered  for  con- 
ference. Prince  Bernadotte,  of  Sweden,  the 
Admiral  of  the  Swedish  Navy,  came  to  our 
hotel  in  Berlin  for  a  short  visit.  He  is  a  great 
influence  in  the  Christian  Hfe  of  Sweden,  and 
is  a  member  of  the  World's  Committee  of  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  On  Sunday  night  we  visited  at 
Potsdam  Dr.  Lepsrus,  the  director  of  the  Orient 
Mission,  which  is  devoting  itself  almost  exclu- 
sively to  work  among  Mosehns  in  Turkey, 
Bulgaria,  Persia  and  southern  Europe.  He  is 
recognized  here  as  one  of  the  foremost  authori- 
ties on  questions  pertaining  to  Moslem  missions. 
Certainly  he  is  a  stimulating  thinker  and  his 
institution  for  training  missionaries  is  in  many 
ways  unique.  On  Monday  night.  Dr.  Mott 
left  Berlin  of  necessity  in  order  to  keep  engage- 
ments in  Switzerland  which  could  not  be  delayed. 
On  Tuesday  evening  I  had  a  long  and  never- 
to-be-forgotten  talk  with  His  Excellency,  Dr. 
Dryander,  the  court  preacher  and  one  of  the 
great  preachers  in  Germany.  In  his  striking 
figure,  tall  and  commanding,  he  is  not  unlike 
von  Hiigel.  He  is  more  erect  and  direct  in 
thought  and  speech  because  he  is  primarily  a 
preacher,    while    von    Hiigel    is    essentially  a 


12  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

scholar,  and  sees  life  in  long  perspective.  The 
two  belong  together.  They  are  nearer  than  when 
I  last  saw  Dryander,  and  God  and  time  are  on 
the  side  of  their  growing  closer  together. 

On  Wednesday  night  February  i  I  attended 
the  Court  Ball  having  been  honoured  with  an 
invitation  from  the  Emperor  and  Empress  with 
the  notice  that  the  American  Ambassador  would 
present  me  to  the  Emperor.  President  Taft 
had,  because  of  his  profound  interest  in  our 
mission,  requested  Dr.  Hill  to  ask  for  an  audi- 
ence for  our  deputation.  Our  stay  was  too 
short  to  make  a  private  audience  possible, 
and  so  the  invitation  came  for  the  Court  Ball. 
Dr.  Mott  would  have  received  the  same  invita- 
tion if  he  had  been  in  Berlin.  Presentations 
are  not  generally  made  at  Court  Balls  and  the 
unusual  exception  showed  the  Kaiser's  readiness 
to  comply  with  Ambassador  Hill's  report  of  the 
President's  wishes.  The  Emperor  promptly 
and  most  interestedly  granted  our  request,  and 
has  entrusted  us  with  a  message  to  the  confer- 
ence at  Constantinople. 

Of  the  Ball  itself  I  may  only  say  that  it  was 
difficult  to  realize  that  military  efficiency  could 
lend  itself  to  a  drama  of  grace  and  infinitely 


NEW  YORK  TO   BERLIN  13 

varied  colour  without  the  loss  of  simplicity  and 
dignity  and  order.  There  was  not  a  suggestion 
of  the  inflexible  law  of  the  soldier.  Clothed 
in  his  wondrous  new  garb  as  President  of  the 
Senate  of  Scholars  lately  created  by  the  Em- 
peror, I  scarcely  recognized  Harnack.  He  was 
wandering  about  alone  avoiding  the  crowd 
when  I  spoke  to  him.  He  remembered  me  at 
once  and  entered  into  a  stimulating  talk  on 
unity.  His  parting  words  were,  "All  good 
wishes  in  your  work." 


CHAPTER  n 

RUSSIA 

We  left  Berlin  on  February  2,  at  1:26  p.m., 
and  crossed  the  Russian  border  about  noon  on  the 
third,  arriving  at  St.  Petersburg  at  8:45  a.m.  on 
the  fourth,  which  was  Saturday.  There  is  one 
thing  about  my  going  to  Russia  to  be  noted 
here,  because  it  is  the  key  to  what  followed  and 
explains  a  unique  experience.  It  was  at  the 
suggestion  of  the  Russian  Archbishop  of  North 
America  that  I  decided  to  make  this  visit  in 
connection  with  our  tour  in  the  Near  East.  It 
had  been  my  privilege  to  meet  Archbishop 
Platon  last  faU.  A  short  acquaintance  indeed, 
but  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  made 
freed  the  acquaintance  from  dependence  on 
time  for  its  maturity.  It  was  a  discussion  of 
miity  as  effected  by  the  Orthodox  Eastern 
Churches  with  Professor  Johnson,  at  the  QuiU 
Club  in  October  last,  that  led  the  professor  to 
introduce  me  to  the  Archbishop.  His  Grace's 
ideals,  and  his  definite  faith  in  their  slow  but 
14 


RUSSIA  15 

sure  application  to  the  conditions  of  divided 
Christendom  was  as  impressive  as  the  holding 
of  such  ideals  with  a  definite  purpose  to  put 
them  into  practice  seemed  surprising  in  an  Arch- 
bishop of  the  Russian  Church.  I  felt  at  once 
the  value  of  such  statesmanship  in  our  midst, 
and  now  that  I  have  been  in  Russia,  I  know 
that  the  Archbishop  does  not  stand  alone,  but 
that  he  is  a  prophet  to  us  of  his  own  Communion, 
and  that  with  our  frank  co-operation  he  may 
become  a  prophet  of  our  Commimion  to  the 
Russian  Church. 

Archbishop  Platon  imposed  one  condition  — 
namely,  that  I  should  go  with  his  letters  of 
introduction  and  with  no  others  to  the  Russian 
Church.  I  went,  therefore,  under  his  patronage 
and  became  in  effect  his  guest  in  the  Russian 
Church,  and  I  was  made  to  feel  the  hospitality 
of  his  own  people.  I  appreciated  the  signifi- 
cance of  such  an  invitation  at  the  time  it  was 
given,  but  its  fuller  meaning  has  been  growing 
upon  me  ever  since.  The  Emperor  himself 
congratulated  me  on  being  in  Russia  under 
such  unique  conditions  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  every  advantage  would  be  given  me  in 
the  studies  that  I  was  making.    This  inner 


i6  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

relation  and  the  frankness  that  followed  from 
it  enabled  me  to  see  things  as  they  are  to  an 
extent  that  would  hardly  have  been  possible 
otherwise.  Something  of  what  is  meant  wiU 
appear  later.  This  is,  I  know,  a  poor  expres- 
sion of  what  Archbishop  Platon  did  in  helping  to 
a  better  insight  into  his  own  Communion  and  his 
own  people,  but  he  will  understand  more  than  I 
would  venture  to  say,  or  than  he  would  have  me 
say,  just  here.  Officially  and  personally  I  owe 
him  more  than  I  would  attempt  to  express,  and  if 
I  do  not  make  full  use  in  the  future  of  what  he 
made  it  possible  for  me  to  learn,  to  feel  and  to 
believe,  it  will  be  my  own  fault  or  incapacity. 

St.  Petersburg.  —  The  Monastery  of 
Alexander  Nevsky.  —  On  the  afternoon  of 
Saturday  I  called  on  Bishop  Tikhon,  and  pre- 
sented my  first  letter  from  Archbishop  Platon. 
His  Grace  appeared  at  once,  having  heard  at 
greater  length  from  the  Archbishop  himself, 
and  for  two  hours  gave  himself  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  my  visit  and  the  work  for  which  I 
had  come.  His  secretary,  who  had  been  in 
charge  of  the  music  in  the  Russian  cathedral 
in  New  York  during  the  years  of  Archbishop 


RUSSIA  17 

Tikhon's  official  residence  there,  together  with 
our  valued  friend,  the  former  Consul- General 
in  New  York,  Mr.  —  now  the  Honourable  — 
Nicholas  N.  de  Lodygensky,  aided  the  Arch- 
bishop in  mapping  out  a  plan  for  a  part  of  my 
stay.  On  Sunday  morning  we  attended  the 
celebration  at  the  Cathedral  of  the  Monastery, 
his  Grace  being  the  celebrant,  and  for  the  first 
time  heard  a  great  Russian  choir.  This  choir 
contests  with  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption 
in  Moscow  the  honour  of  being  the  finest  choir 
in  Russia.  By  special  invitation  I  stood  "in 
the  altar."  The  singing  at  the  monastery 
differs  from  that  at  the  Assumption  in  Moscow 
in  several  ways,  but  the  most  striking  difference 
is  that  one  entire  side  of  the  choir  is  occupied 
by  the  monks,  whose  singing  is  magnificent. 
The  service  was  of  special  interest  because  of 
the  ordination  of  a  priest.  It  was  made  more 
intelligible  by  the  secretary,  Mr.  Greofsky, 
who  never  left  my  side  and  was  constantly  inter- 
preting and  explaining  the  service  and  the 
music.  A  rare  musician  himself,  he  sang  much 
of  the  service,  and  under  the  spell  of  his  leading 
I  was  able  to  sing  parts  of  it  myself.  I  used 
an  English  translation,  called  the  Service  Book, 


i8  AN   EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

by  an  American,  Miss  Hapgood,  which  book 
was  presented  to  me  as  a  memento  of  the  occa- 
sion. The  music  came  as  a  sort  of  awakening 
both  in  kind  and  degree.  Of  course  I  had  heard 
voices  without  instruments,  but  never  such 
voices,  blending  and  moving  with  a  grace  and 
power  that  reminded  one  of  the  waves  of  the 
sea.  Here  was  a  great  organ  of  human  voices. 
What  need  had  they  of  the  imitation? 

In  the  Russian  Church  surely  the  organ  has 
no  place.  Their  choirs  —  we  heard  later  the 
Assimiption  choir  at  Moscow  and  many  others 
in  both  cities  —  seem  the  ideal  for  their  voices 
and  their  worship.  Again  I  cannot  think  that 
their  Church  music  would  ever  be  taken  for 
anything  other  than  that  of  worship.  The 
music  of  their  litanies  might  at  times  seem 
terrible,  if  it  were  pessimistic,  but  it  is  not.  It 
carries  a  solemn  expectation  in  keeping  with 
their  rendering  of  the  Eucharist.  Of  their 
worship,  as  a  whole,  no  one  should  feel  compe- 
tent to  speak  without  opportunity  to  enter  into 
the  spirit,  the  power,  the  imagination,  the  faith, 
the  mystical  element  and  all  those  qualities 
that  have  combined  to  create  the  genius  of  this 
great  people,  with  its  even  greater  problems. 


RUSSIA  19 

Each  nation,  as  each  race  and  each  individual,  is 
entitled  to  its  individuality.  This  right  is  as 
absolute  as  the  obligation  upon  every  nation, 
race,  and  individual  to  fulfil  their  relation  to 
the  whole  of  humanity  in  the  whole  world  is 
absolute.  None  can  be  justified,  either  indi- 
vidually or  collectively,  in  pursuing  a  course  of 
individualism  which  isolates  it  from  the  whole. 
None  can  be  justified  in  a  socialism  or  an  insti- 
tutionalism  that  deprives  nations,  races,  and 
individuals  of  their  individuality  in  performing 
their  individual  part  in  the  work  of  the  whole. 
Even  with  my  brief  experience  I  venture  to 
express  my  profound  conviction  that  the  Russian 
Church  seems  normal  in  its  worship  in  the  setting 
in  which  it  is  found,  and  that  it  must  develop 
and  reform  under  its  own  conditions.  And  as 
profoundly  I  believe  it  has  within  it  the  power 
to  make  contributions  to  the  catholicity  of 
Christendom  when  once  the  claims  of  all  the 
Communions  of  Christendom  are  fully  recognized 
in  the  catholic  claims  of  Him  Who  died  and  rose 
again  for  the  saving  of  the  whole  world.  Unity 
will  never  come  in  the  adjustment  of  the  claims 
of  Russian,  Roman,  Anglican,  or  any  other 
Communion  by  way  of  covenant  or  agreement 


20  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

or  adjustment  among  themselves.  They  must 
work  together  till  all  recognize  the  primary 
and  infinitely  superior  claims  of  Christ  upon 
the  loyalty  of  those  who  work  in  His  name,  and 
that  loyalty  must  be  expressed  in  One  Uni- 
versal Church.  The  primary,  fundamental  issue 
is  not  our  claim  but  Christ's  claim  for  the  unity 
of  His  disciples  in  order  that  the  world  may 
know  that  the  Father  sent  Him  into  the  world. 
Finally,  it  is  a  happiness  to  be  constrained  to 
say  that  while  I  found  many  who,  with  entire 
frankness,  refused  to  see  the  obUgation  to  put 
this  principle  into  practice,  even  they  were 
unable  to  controvert  the  principle.  But  more 
than  this  I  found  in  high  places  among  ecclesias- 
tics as  well  as  among  la)nnen,  among  scholars 
and  among  men  of  average  information,  an 
assent  not  only  to  the  principle,  but  the  accept- 
ance of  a  pressing  obHgation  to  apply  it  in  life. 

A  Visit  to  the  Metropolitan.  —  From  the 
cathedral  I  was  taken  immediately  to  the  Palace 
of  the  Metropolitan,  who  was  ill  and  was  not 
receiving  visitors.  The  call  was  intended  to  be 
formal  and  for  the  purpose  of  leaving  a  card. 
To  our  surprise  the  Metropolitan  received  me, 


o 


THE   METROPOLITAN   OF   ST.   PETERSBURGH 


RUSSIA  21 

apologizing  for  not  being  in  his  official  dress. 
He  stood,  though  it  was  pain  to  do  so,  and  spoke 
with  a  calm  dignity  and  force  becoming  his 
great  office,  and  evidently  growing  out  of  a  great 
experience.  He  showed  a  depth  and  breadth 
of  sympathy  which  seem  generally  possible 
only  to  those  of  increased  years,  whose  "wisdom 
increases  with  their  years."  He  gave  me  his 
blessing  and  added  his  best  wishes  for  what  I  was 
trying  to  do.  As  we  were  leaving  Mr.  Lodygen- 
sky  told  him  that  I  was  going  to  the  Holy  Land. 
The  Metropolitan,  looking  me  steadily  in  the 
face,  said  with  simplicity  and  emotion:  "When 
you  stand  at  our  Lord's  tomb,  pray  for  me." 

Address  to  the  Theological  Students 
OF  THE  Academy.  —  Before  leaving  the  subject 
of  this  monastery,  with  its  great  foundation, 
its  churches,  and  its  wealth  of  associations,  it 
is  well  to  record  another  and  last  visit  there. 
My  readers  will  not  be  more  surprised  to  hear 
of  an  invitation  to  address  the  theological 
students  of  this  "High  Church"  Academy,  than 
I  was  to  receive  it.  The  spirit  that  prompted 
the  invitation  was  as  gracious  as  it  was  stimu- 
lating,    I  hesitated  to  seize  the  opportunity, 


22  AN   EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

having  no  possible  time  for  preparation,  but 
it  was  urged,  "go  and  speak  out  your  mind  and 
heart  frankly  and  unreservedly."  We  ap- 
proached the  monastery  at  8:30  p.m.,  with  the 
thermometer  below  zero,  to  find  the  great 
gateway  closed.  The  impressiveness  of  the 
entrance  through  a  side  door  into  that  great 
court,  as  we  walked  past  the  cathedral  and  the 
famous  cemetery  suggestive  of  the  solemn,  silent 
scene  surrounding  us,  will  remain  always.  In 
the  inner  court  of  the  Academy  members  of  the 
faculty  and  students  awaited  us  and  conducted 
us  to  the  hall  where  the  principal,  a  bishop  in 
full  brown  habit,  received  us.  I  was  immedi- 
ately introduced  to  the  body  of  students,  all 
standing  during  the  exercises.  I  stood  between 
the  bishop  and  Mr.  Lodygensky,  who  acted 
as  interpreter.  The  faculty  and  the  student 
body  stood  in  a  semi-circle  about  us,  pressing 
eagerly  forward  to  hear  every  word.  I  spoke 
first  of  the  word  "Protestant,"  because  I  had 
been  introduced  as  a  member  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  and  because  I  knew  that 
the  word  carried  a  meaning  in  Russia  different, 
at  least  to  a  degree,  if  not  in  kind,  from  that 
put  upon  it  in  any  other  country,  not  excepting 


RUSSIA     I  23 

those  under  the  influence  of  the  Roman  Com- 
munion. To  many  here  Protestant  is  synony- 
mous with  infidel  or  sceptic,  or  enemy  of  historic 
Christianity.  It  was  no  time  for  argument 
nor  explanation.  I  did  not  feel  the  need  of  it. 
I  stated,  without  reserve,  that  Protestant  was 
not  a  characteristic,  essential  and  permanent, 
of  our  conception  of  Catholicity.  The  protest 
was  an  accident  and  an  incident  in  the  historic 
struggle  for  the  purity  of  the  Church's  order  and 
doctrine  and  Ufe.  I  think  I  surprised  both 
faculty  and  students  by  stating  that  we  were 
so  sure  of  our  historical  position  that  we  did 
not  seek  either  from  the  East  or  the  West  a 
confirmation  of  the  validity  of  our  Orders  in 
order  to  make  us  more  sure.  But  we  were 
coming  to  believe  what  many  in  all  Commun- 
ions were  coming  to  believe,  that  our  separation 
and  isolation  as  historic  Churches  was  a  stand- 
ing witness  against  the  effectiveness  of  Catholic 
Christianity  because  our  divided  witness  con- 
tradicted the  prayer  of  Our  Lord  that  His 
disciples  should  unite  in  bearing  witness  to 
Him  throughout  the  world.  I  then  gave  the 
actual  situation  in  plain  facts  as  to  the  millions 
who  had  never  heard  the  Gospel  and  in  all 


24  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

probability  could  never  hear  it  under  the  pres- 
ent conditions  of  a  separated  and  isolated 
Christianity.  The  effect  of  these  statistics 
was  striking,  but  I  think  not  more  striking 
than  when  the  Laymen's  Movement  first  used 
them  at  home  and  later  in  England,  and  as  I 
have  used  them  frequently  on  the  continent. 

Taking  advantage  of  their  living  interest  in 
the  condition  of  the  world  and  the  divided  state 
of  Christendom  which  was  instinct  in  every 
face  before  me,  I  insisted  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  our  Communions  to  know  each  other  better 
in  order  to  understand  the  common  ground 
on  which  we  stood  as  well  as  intelligently  to 
appreciate  the  character  of  the  things  in  which 
we  differ,  and  further  that  to  understand  one 
another  it  was  necessary  that  we  should  do 
something  in  common,  no  matter  how  small  the 
beginning  might  be.  For  students  a  beginning 
could  be  made  in  a  common  study  of  the  history 
of  Christianity  in  the  light  of  the  condition  of 
the  world  which  actually  faced  them.  Then  if 
we  began  to  do  things  together,  and  to  feel 
things  together,  and  to  think  out  things  to- 
gether, we  would  become  the  more  competent 
to  realize  how  incalculably  precious  and  funda- 


RUSSIA  25 

mental  are  the  things  on  which  we  are  agreed, 
and  also  we  should,  without  sacrificing  those 
individual  characteristics  which  made  them 
Russian  and  us  American  —  made  them  mem- 
bers of  the  Russian  and  us  members  of  the 
American  Church  —  we  should  be  able  to  put 
these  lesser  things  in  their  true  perspective 
without  sacrificing  them  simply  because  they 
were  different  in  the  two  Churches.  I  told 
them  that  I  knew  no  place  where  this  work 
should  be  done  more  earnestly  and  more  per- 
sistently than  by  students  who  are  in  prepara- 
tion for  Holy  Orders,  that  such  work  was  being 
done  in  our  country  and  that  I  was  persuaded 
from  the  manner  in  which  they  had  received 
what  I  had  said  they  would  make  it  a  study  of 
the  first  importance  in  their  Academy. 

When  I  had  finished  a  member  of  the  student 
body  stepped  forward  and  in  English,  with  a 
good  accent,  made  the  following  response 
which,  at  my  request,  he  wrote  out  afterwards: 

"Most  Honourable  Mr.  McBee: 

"In  behalf  of  the  students  of  the  Theological  Academy 
of  St.  Petersburg,  I  have  the  honour  of  greeting  you 
on  your  visit  to  our  Academy.  We  sincerely  thank  you 
for  your  kind  words  and  kind  opinions  of  the  Russian 


26  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

students,  and  while  opening  before  you  the  gates  of  the 
Academy  we  throw  wide  open  also  our  hearts.  Greeting 
your  Honour,  we  greet  not  only  a  most  welcome  guest, 
but  also  a  highly  esteemed  worker  and  representative 
of  the  Episcopal  world,  the  world  that  keeps  in  its  depths 
the  real  tendency  and  faith  and  the  union  of  the 
Churches.  The  importance  of  this  wide  world  question 
needs  no  commentary.  Especially  we  students  of  the 
Theological  Schools  are  to  comprehend  it.  Our  Church 
prays  for  this  union,  and  it  is  required  in  us  that  all 
be  gathered  in  one  body  —  the  Body  of  our  Lord. 
Therefore  it  is  our  sincere  hope  and  faith  that  the  time 
is  really  coming  when  all  are  to  say  there  is  one  flock 
and  one  Shepherd,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Concluding 
these  few  words,  we  must  pray  you  to  accept  our  warm 
farewell  on  your  further  journey.  May  God  bestow 
upon  you  all  His  blessings  and  encrown  your  mission 
with  love  and  peace  and  success. 
"(Signed) 

"  The  Stiidents  of  the  Theological 
Academy  of  St.  Petersburg" 

It  developed  later  that  this  Russian  student 
had  been  born  in  San  Francisco,  hence  the  ease 
with  which  he  spoke  in  our  language.  The 
principal  followed  in  a  few  earnest  words,  and 
among  other  things  said  that  being  only  a 
bishop  and  not  in  higher  authority  he  could 
take  no  liberties.  Therefore,  as  an  Orthodox 
bishop,  he  could  not  give  his  blessing  to  one 
who  is  not  an  Orthodox,  but  he  said  he  would 


RUSSIA  27 

pray  for  the  success  of  my  mission,  and  that 
they  were  grateful  for  my  coming  to  them,  and 
he  wished  me  all  good  things  on  our  journey. 
I  valued  this  discrimination  because  it  showed 
plainly  that  their  hospitality  was  not  getting 
the  better  of  their  convictions.  It  was  only 
one  of  many  evidences  I  had  in  Russia  of  a 
frank  statement  of  their  position  and  the  nec- 
essary consequences  to  those  holding  it. 

Officials  of  the  Holy  Synod.  —  I  was 
received  by  the  Over-Procurator,  by  the  Vice- 
Procurator  and  the  Ex-Procurator  of  the  Holy 
Synod.  There  was  less  of  sympathy  and  of 
faith  in  any  approach  toward  unity  in  these 
three  laymen  than  from  any  other  source.  The 
Over-Procurator  is  a  man,  I  am  told,  of  rare 
scientific  attainment  and  I  can  well  believe  it, 
because  of  the  ease  with  which  he  puts  the 
situation  into  a  syllogism.  Put  with  abihty 
and  easy  dignity  the  sum  total  of  his  first  state- 
ment was  practically  this:  It  was  necessary 
to  be  Orthodox;  they  were  Orthodox,  and  there 
was  nothing  for  them  to  do  unless  others  became 
Orthodox.  I  am  putting  the  matter,  of  course, 
in  a  few  words.    It  was  stimulating  to  find  such 


28  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

frankness  and  it  was  encouraging  to  see  that 
even  a  scientific  mind  had  to  modify  a  position 
of  such  finality.  He  had  not,  I  think,  reahzed 
the  real  issue.  Possibly  he  thought  I  was  only 
another  person  seeking  recognition  of  my  Com- 
munion at  the  hands  of  the  Russian  Church,  as 
though  we  were  not  certain  of  our  position  and 
needed  to  have  ourselves  validated  by  an  Ortho- 
dox Church.  I  have  not  the  remotest  idea  that 
his  view  of  Orthodoxy  underwent  any  change, 
but  I  do  think  he  came  to  realize  that  the  ques- 
tion at  issue  was  greater  than  the  claims  of  the 
Russian  Church  or  any  other  branch  of  the 
Christian  Church.  The  Vice-Procurator  was 
not  scientific  so  much  as  hterary,  and  he  was 
really  concerned  about  the  historical  status  of 
our  Communion.  He  seemed  surprised  that 
even  we  believed  in  our  Orders.  He  said,  "I 
am  more  than  an  ordinary  man  and  have  had 
more  than  ordinary  experience,  and  if  I  do  not 
know,  what  must  be  the  attitude  of  the  average 
member  of  the  Russian  Church?"  I  replied 
by  saying,  "The  Pope  is  a  man  of  more  than 
average  intelligence  and  has  had  rare  oppor- 
tunities for  wide  observation"  (it  was  as  inter- 
esting as  it  was  a  revelation  of  his  own  frankness 


RUSSIA  29 

to  see  the  amusement  in  his  face  when  he  saw 
what  was  coming),  "and  yet  should  the  Pope 
deny  the  vaUdity  of  your  Orders,  would  that 
settle  finally  the  question  of  the  validity  of  your 
Orders?"  He  was  quick  to  say  "No;"  and  so 
I  insisted  that,  though  he  and  the  Russian 
Church  and  the  whole  world  should  rise  to 
deny  it,  we  were  convinced  of  the  validity  of 
our  Orders  and  desired  careful  examination  of 
the  historic  basis  upon  which  they  rested;  that 
my  point  was  that  all  of  us  were  too  near  an 
average  intelligence  and  too  full  of  theological 
strife  and  prejudice  and  had  too  far  departed 
from  the  fundamental  Christian  idea  of  one 
family  of  God,  to  be  in  a  position  to  pass  judg- 
ment finally,  each  upon  the  other;  and  that 
what  I  was  in  Russia  for  was  to  urge  fuller 
understanding,  more  active  co-operation,  in 
order  that  we  might  produce  an  ecumenical 
Christianity  which  was  an  essential  condition 
of  ecumenical  decisions  and  definitions.  He 
seized  my  hand  as  we  were  leaving  and  said, 
"It  is  a  great  ideal,  and  with  all  my  heart  I  will 
pray  for  its  realization." 

The  Ex-Procurator's  position  was  something 
like    this:    We    recognize    the    Orders    of    the 


30  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Roman  Church  and  the  Roman  Church  does 
not  recognize  your  orders,  and,  therefore,  we 
cannot  recognize  them.  But  I  said,  You 
recognize  Rome  but  Rome  does  not  recognize 
you,  and  we  have  the  advantage  of  recognizing 
the  validity  of  both  of  your  Orders,  and  we  are 
persuaded  that  if  both  you  and  Rome  will  study 
our  Orders  with  the  same  impartiality,  it  is 
possible  that  you  may  come  to  agree  with  us 
in  the  validity  of  the  Orders  of  all  three  of  the 
historic  Churches.  Nothing  that  I  have  said 
ought  to  convey  —  because  it  would  not  be 
true  to  my  experience  —  the  idea  that  there 
was  anything  but  the  most  cordial  good  feeling 
throughout  these  and  all  other  discussions.  I 
have  given  these  with  some  brusqueness  because 
they  were  talks  with  laymen  and  in  order  that 
my  readers  may  share  with  me  the  point  of 
view  of  the  State  and  Church  officials  in  Russia. 
Just  before  my  engagement  with  the  Over- 
Procurator,  the  Holy  Synod  was  in  session,  and 
it  was  hoped  that  I  would  arrive  in  time  to  see 
it  in  session,  but  we  were  delayed  and  only  saw 
the  Metropolitans,  Archbishops,  and  others 
departing,  and  I  was  immediately  ushered  into 
the    Over-Procurator's    office.     It    was    most 


RUSSIA  31 

interesting  to  see  the  Archbishops  and  others 
talking  in  groups  and  leaving  the  hall.  The 
same  afternoon  the  Metropolitan  of  Moscow 
received  me  at  his  palace  and  talked  with  rugged 
force  and  earnestness  for  nearly  an  hour.  Un- 
doubtedly he  is  a  great  moral  force.  He  was 
the  personification  of  moral  energy  girded  for 
the  battle  of  the  Russian  Church  with  the  forces 
that  he  believed  are  threatening  it  and  the 
Christianity  that  it  represents.  When  once 
he  was  diverted  to  our  American  conditions  his 
questions  were  searching  and  rapid.  He  evi- 
dently desired  to  see  if  there  was  anything  that 
we  had  to  give  that  would  be  of  value  in  Russia. 
Perhaps  he  knows  more  than  most  men  of  what 
the  problem  is  in  its  multitudinous  form,  and 
perhaps  his  victory  is  yet  to  come.  In  one  great 
moment  he  exclaimed,  "Sometimes  I  feel  that 
the  work  is  so  great  and  the  problem  is  so  vast, 
that  Christians  might  leave  their  differences 
aside  in  the  shadow,  not  to  sacrifice  them  but 
to  keep  them  in  a  truer  perspective  until,  as  a 
united  body,  we  have  done  more  in  overcoming 
the  evils  that  face  us."  What  this  strong  man 
sometimes  feels  is,  I  believe,  becoming  more 
and  more  the  permanent  state  of  heart,  soul 


32  AN   EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

and  mind  of  increasing  numbers  of  Christians 
in  every  community. 

The  Metropolitan  gave  me  his  benediction 
and  expressed  the  deepest  interest  in  the  princi- 
ple of  action  for  which  I  was  contending.  I  left 
his  home,  feeling  that  it  had  been  good  to  be 
there,  and  that  I  should  never  lose  the  concep- 
tion he  had  given  me  of  a  great,  good  man, 
struggling  with  problems  which  throughout  the 
world  demand  for  their  solution,  under  God's 
guidance,  the  co-operation  and  unity  of  the 
whole  of  Christendom. 

The  Palestine  Society.  —  On  the  day  after 
this  rich  experience  with  the  Metropolitan  of 
Moscow  I  was  taken  to  the  oflSces  of  the  Russian 
Palestine  Society  by  Mr.  Lodygensky  and  in- 
troduced to  the  vice-president  and  his  secretaries. 
This  will  perhaps  prove  an  epoch-making  day 
in  its  preparation  for  our  tour  through  the  Holy 
Land.  The  whole  staff  put  themselves  immedi- 
ately to  work,  giving  information,  suppl>'ing 
maps  and  giving  letters  of  introduction.  They 
wrote  at  once  to  their  representatives,  giving 
our  dates  in  Palestine  and  asking  them  to  extend 
every  courtesy  in  the  power  of  the  society.     In 


RUSSIA  33 

addition  they  wrote  to  General  Stepanof,  at  the 
Kremlin,  Moscow,  instructing  him  to  ask  the 
Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth  —  who  is  the  presi- 
dent of  the  Palestine  Society,  and  who  has 
founded  a  deaconess'  home  in  Moscow  —  to 
receive  me. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  enumerate  all  of  those 
whose  cordiality  and  helpfulness  put  me  under 
lasting  obligations.  It  is  a  special  tribute  to 
Archbishop  Platon  that  his  letters  should  have 
accomplished  so  much  in  so  brief  a  time,  and 
I  beg  here  to  assure  him  and  the  friends  I  made 
in  Russia  that  it  is  my  great  desire  to  return  for 
a  longer  stay,  that  I  may  tell  more  of  American 
Christianity  and  get  more  from  Russia  to  tell 
to  my  own  people.  Of  Mr.  Lodygensky's  un- 
failing courtesy,  sympathy  and  eflSciency  I  must 
speak  without  reserve.  Few  of  us  in  New 
York  realize  how  much  he  was  doing  while 
there  to  get  at  the  genius  of  our  Church  and  to 
know  the  spirit  of  America  and,  therefore,  none 
of  us  can  imagine  the  work  that  he  is  able  to  do 
now  because  of  what  he  acquired  while  in 
America.  I  hesitate  to  do  more  than  to  make 
acknowledgment  to  Archbishop  Tikhon  for  the 
warmth  with  which  he  received  us  on  the  first 
3 


34  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

day  of  our  arrival,  making  us  feel  at  home  in  a 
way  that  he  probably  could  not  have  done  ex- 
cept for  his  Ufe  as  Archbishop  in  America.  The 
work  he  is  doing  on  the  Commission  appointed 
by  the  Holy  Synod  to  deal  with  the  relations 
between  the  Russian  Church  and  the  Anglican 
Commimion  could  not  have  been  done  by  one 
who  had  not  come  in  direct  contact  and  had 
years  of  experience  with  our  Communion.  Mr. 
Lodygensky  is  also  a  member  of  that  Com- 
mission. It  would  be  rash  to  look  for  spasmodic 
action  on  either  side,  and  it  requires  more  cour- 
age and  more  faith  to  lay  foundations  than  to 
build  the  superstructure.  It  this  be  true  as  a  gen- 
eral principle  it  is  more  fundamentally  true  when 
the  work  in  hand  is  not  laying  of  the  foundations 
of  a  material  structure  but  building  into  one  fam- 
ily the  hving  members  of  divided  Christendom. 

Stolypin.  —  The  very  name  of  the  president 
of  the  Council  of  Ministers  creates  interest 
wherever  it  is  mentioned,  no  matter  how  diverse 
in  degree  and  kind  that  interest  may  be.  When 
in  response  to  his  invitation  —  which  had  been 
extended  at  Archbishop  Platon's  request  —  I 
called,  he  received  me  with  a  dignity  and  sim- 


RUSSIA  35 

plicity  and  frank  cordiality  that  indicated  power 
in  repose.  The  responsibilities  of  his  great  ofl&ce 
were  clearly  and  consciously  apparent.  One 
could  detect  neither  depression  nor  exultation, 
but  rather  evidences  of  a  readiness  to  meet  those 
responsibilities  and  that  he  had  given  himself 
fully  to  doing  it.  It  is  not  my  province  to 
discuss  political  conditions,  nor  to  endeavour 
to  interpret  anything  that  the  minister  said 
with  regard  to  them,  but  one  statement,  which 
in  a  slightly  different  form  had  been  made  by 
Archbishop  Platon  to  Mr.  Roosevelt  when  I 
took  him  to  call  upon  the  ex-President,  sur- 
prised and  interested  me.  He  introduced  it 
by  saying  that  the  heart  of  America  and  the 
heart  of  Russia  had  always  been  true  the  one 
to  the  other,  no  matter  what  differences  and 
difl&culties  may  have  arisen.  That,  I  had  always 
been  led  to  believe,  was  true;  the  surprise  came 
when  Stolypin  added.  They  are  the  two  great 
democracies,  the  one  under  a  republican  form 
of  government  and  the  other  under  a  monarchy. 
Later  his  Excellency,  Mr.  Paul  S.  Monsouroff, 
of  Moscow,  a  professor,  I  believe,  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Moscow,  explained  what  was  meant. 
The  claim  was,  he  said,  that  unlike  the  rest  of 


36  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Europe,  Russia  was  composed  of  a  number  of 
smaller  republics  until  they  were  solidified  into 
one  great  nation  by  Peter  the  Great,  and  that 
certain  characteristics  of  that  evolution  still 
remained.  Among  them  he  mentioned  the 
fact  that  the  peasantry  owned  about  three- 
fourths  of  the  land  in  Russia,  which  he  took  to 
be  of  incalculable  promise  for  the  future,  pro- 
vided they  were  protected  in  their  ownership. 
Until  recently  a  peasant  could  not  dispose  of  his 
land  without  the  consent  of  the  community  in 
which  it  was  held.  There  is  a  change,  or  there 
is  about  to  be  a  change,  giving  the  peasant  the 
right  to  sell  on  his  own  initiative.  Monsouroff 
seemed  anxious  lest  this  might  change  the  demo- 
cratic status  of  the  peasant  so  far  as  the  owner- 
ship of  land  was  concerned  by  enabling  wealthy 
individuals  or  corporations  to  absorb  large 
areas. 

His  Excellency  Stolypin  was  thoroughly  in- 
formed as  to  my  object  in  coming  to  Russia, 
and  asked  interestedly  whether  I  had  met  those 
whom  I  had  desired  specially  to  see.  He 
expressed  a  warm  interest  in  what  I  was  under- 
taking and  indorsed  unreservedly  my  expressed 
wish  that  our  Churches  and  our  Nations  should 


RUSSIA  37 

come  more  intimately  in  contact  with  each 
other,  should  be  bound  together  more  nearly  in 
a  common  effort,  and  thus  be  enabled  to  make 
a  contribution  to  the  unity  of  Christendom  and 
to  the  better  understanding  between  nations 
everywhere.  Through  the  courtesy  of  our  Am- 
bassador and  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  the 
Emperor  received  me  on  February  ii  at  the 
Tsarskoie-Selo  Palace,  about  twelve  miles  from 
St.  Petersburg.  Archbishop  Platon  had  asked 
Stolypin  to  give  me  this  privilege. 

The  Emperor.  —  The  Emperor  received  me 
cordially  and  sympathetically.  In  a  moment 
I  saw  that  he  had  been  fully  informed  as  to 
the  object  of  my  mission,  and  no  preliminaries 
were  necessary.  For  about  forty-five  minutes 
the  conversation  was  devoted  wholly  to  the 
question  of  a  better  understanding  between 
our  Churches  and  Nations,  and  the  vital  im- 
portance of  it  as  a  contribution  to  the  unity  of 
Christendom.  I  found  myself  impressed  with 
his  deep  religious  convictions  and  feelings,  and 
without  hesitation  he  authorized  me  to  express 
his  interest  and  sympathy  in  the  movement 
for  unity  and  also  to  give  a  similar  message  to 


38  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

the  World's  Student  Christian  Federation  Con- 
ference in  Constantinople. 

Moscow.  —  It  is  difficult  to  refrain  from 
attempting  some  description  of  one's  feelings 
and  impressions  in  seeing  Moscow  for  the  first 
time.  Its  picturesqueness  is  indescribable.  The 
combination  of  architecture  and  art  in  the 
Kremlin  is  more  varied,  more  complex,  more 
seemingly  contradictory  and  yet  more  perfectly 
a  whole  than  anything  I  have  seen.  I  suppose 
it  is  the  combination  of  power,  in  the  great  wall 
and  towers,  with  a  mass  of  colour  in  which  it 
would  seem  that  the  artist  had  drawn  the 
divergencies  and  antagonistic  elements  into  an 
afifectionate  bond  of  union.  Surely  looking  at 
the  Kremlin  from  a  distance,  and  then  study- 
ing it  more  in  detail,  one  can  scarcely  refrain 
from  taking  it  at  least  as  a  crude  symbol  of  the 
infinite  variety  in  unity  which  one  is  longing 
to  see  for  the  good  of  the  world  and  for  the 
fulfilment  of  its  destiny.  It  is  a  crude  symbol, 
and  if  it  were  not  for  that  element  of  tenderness 
and  relationship  which  colour  represents,  it 
would  not  be  right  to  suggest  the  sjrmbol.  But 
I  feel,  as  I  recall  my  impressions  while  there, 


RUSSIA  39 

* 

that  what  colour  does  to  bind  those  conflicting 
elements,  tragic  and  comic  alike,  into  one  whole, 
so  love  —  active  and  realized  in  closer  contact  — 
will  do  and  can  do  to  bind  the  raging  and  con- 
tending elements  of  races  and  nations  into  the 
one  family  of  God. 

The  Grand  Duchess  Elizabeth's  Deacon- 
ess Home.  —  Every  one  who  knew  that  I  had 
received  an  invitation  to  meet  the  Grand 
Duchess  exclaimed,  "She  is  a  saint."  Her 
name  and  her  work  in  this  home  are  well  known, 
perhaps  throughout  the  world.  After  her  great 
sorrow  she  went  down  into  that  part  of  the  city 
across  the  river  which  was  in  the  old  times  called 
the  Tartar's  field,  and  has  given  her  life  to  the 
formation  of  an  Order  of  Deaconesses  which 
she  hopes  will  develop  into  the  kind  of  work 
which  the  Scriptures  record  as  being  done  by 
the  deaconesses  in  the  early  Church.  When  I 
entered  the  Home  I  had  a  few  moments  for 
reflection  in  the  reception  room.  I  felt  a  differ- 
ence from  any  religious  Order  that  I  had  ever 
come  in  contact  with.  The  house  was  as  free 
from  ostentatious  plainness  or  poverty  as  it 
was  from  any  signs  of  luxury  or  indulgent  com- 


40  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

• 

fort.  The  religious  symbols  were  there  and 
yet  in  a  sense  they  were  not  there,  because  they 
were  so  reverently  and  naturally  there.  It  was 
a  religious  home,  but  it  seemed  primarily  a 
home  —  as  if  religion  was  an  attribute  of  the 
home  and  not  home  an  accident  of  religion. 
If  I  felt  this  of  the  home  I  felt  it  a  hundredfold 
more  in  Elizabeth,  the  deaconess,  and  I  felt 
it  still  more  when  I  found  her  heart,  soul,  and 
mind  a  reflection  of  herself.  It  is  not  her  pur- 
pose to  develop  a  monastery  but  to  recover  the 
simple  service  of  humanity  and  the  power  and 
loving  care  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ  which  is  the 
life  of  the  children  of  God.  There  would  neces- 
sarily be  a  very  few  exceptions,  if  indeed  any 
at  all,  when  I  say  that  I  have  met  few  persons 
who  more  absolutely  look  for  and  seek  the  unity 
of  the  family  of  God  through  the  preservation 
of  the  infinite  variety  of  humanity,  in  all  of  its 
varied  integrities.  She  realized  that  it  would 
be  as  impossible  to  ask  Russia  to  give  up  her 
type  and  genius  of  Christianity  as  it  would  be 
to  impose  that  type  and  genius  upon  some  other 
nation.  Why  may  we  not,  she  said,  retain  all 
of  our  local  colour  and  all  the  appeals  to  our 
own  people  and  our  own  nations,  and  yet  be 


RUSSIA  41 

one   in   the   Lord    Jesus   Christ   in   His   One 
Church? 

Her  interest  in  the  deaconess  work  in  America 
was  such  that  I  promised  to  secure  all  available 
information  about  the  work  of  our  several  Orders 
and  forward  to  her  for  their  library.  It  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  that  as  president  of  the 
Palestine  Society  she  complied  with  the  request 
of  the  vice-president  and  has  authorized  her  name 
to  be  used  on  our  behalf  throughout  Palestine. 
She  has  taken  the  cause  of  unity  as  a  special 
object  of  prayer  and  effort.  I  was  glad  that 
from  this  house  I  left  Russia.  I  had  come  to 
feel,  as  I  had  never  imagined,  the  problems  of 
this  vast  nation  —  problems  that  will  require 
generations  to  solve.  I  had  found  men  in  high 
and  low  stations  of  Ufe  who  are  not  afraid  of 
these  problems,  because  they  are  facing  them 
with  God  as  their  dependence,  and  now  on 
leaving  I  felt  the  influence  of  one  whose  charac- 
ter in  scope,  in  sure  faith,  and  in  abounding 
love  will  remain  as  an  inspiring  influence  always. 

Council  and  Duma.  —  I  was  given  the 
opportunity  to  visit  the  Council  of  the  Empire. 
Time  did  not  permit,  but  I  met  members  of 


42  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

the  Council  and  I  would  especially  recall  Senator 
Wladimir  Sabler/  whose  fluent  English  made 
discussion  a  delight.  His  cathohc  attitude 
toward  the  Roman  Church  and  his  desire  for 
better  relations  with  it  made  it  easier  for  him 
to  take  a  similar  position  toward  the  Anghcan 
Communion.  He  entered  whole-heartedly  into 
the  idea  that  unity  was  a  primary  principle  and 
obligation.  It  would  be  cause  for  gratitude  if 
more  American  and  English  Christians  were 
like-minded. 

I  visited  the  Duma  under  the  guidance  of 
Mr.  Tsanofif,  who  represents  the  Associated 
Press  in  Russia.  A  Bulgarian  by  birth,  edu- 
cated at  Harvard,  and  an  enthusiastic  student 
of  Russian  language,  art,  and  history  for  a 
number  of  years,  the  Duma  meant  more  in  that 
one  visit  under  his  direction  than  it  could  have 
meant  in  many  visits  without  such  help.  I  have 
had  occasion  to  observe  for  some  years  the 
representatives  of  the  Associated  Press  abroad 
and  the  type  of  man  chosen  is  a  witness  to  Mr. 
Melville  Stone's  judgment  and  knowledge  of 
men  and  governments.    There  is  no  part  of 

*  Senator  Sabler  has  since  become  Over-Procurator 
of  the  Holy  Synod. 


RUSSIA  43 

the  administration  of  the  nation's  affairs  that 
calls  for  more  constructive  and  aggressive 
development  than  the  diplomatic  service 
abroad.  We  claim  to  be  above  all  nations  a 
representative  government,  and  yet  we  have 
failed  to  represent  the  American  people  and 
American  institutions  in  their  integrity  to  other 
peoples.  A  change  has  been  inaugurated  and 
is  being  pushed  with  vigour.  But  the  people  as 
a  whole  should  encourage  the  President  to  feel 
that  they  are  behind  the  movement  and  that 
they  mean  to  have  their  cordial  feelings  toward 
all  other  nations  and  their  desire  for  full  and 
fair  inter-relations  known  to  every  country. 
It  ought  to  become  impossible  for  any  diplo- 
matic post  to  be  held  by  one  who  cannot  inter- 
pret America  to  the  country  to  which  he  is 
sent,  not  merely  in  its  language,  but  in  its  art 
and  literature  and  principles  of  government, 
and  on  its  economic  and  social  sides.  It  is 
due  to  ourselves,  but  even  a  higher  standard 
should  obtain  when  we  reflect  upon  our  obliga- 
tions to  others.  No  body  of  men  feel  this  more 
than  our  representatives  abroad,  who  have  been 
so  long  hampered  by  the  old  parochial  system. 
I  have  not  departed  from  my  appointed  mission 


44  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

in  saying  all  this.  If  the  fulj&lling  of  all  relations 
of  life  is  righteousness  and  unity,  then  Chris- 
tianity should  be  the  greatest  motive  power  for 
perfecting  the  machinery  of  government  neces- 
sary to  a  better  understanding  and  better  service 
between  nations,  which  means  better  feehng 
and  a  nearer  approach  to  peace.  With  no 
discouragement  to  anyone  who  works  for  peace, 
it  is  a  truth  that  cannot  be  evaded  that  righteous 
relations,  which  mean  righteousness,  offer  the 
road,  and  the  only  road,  to  permanent  peace. 
When  we  left  the  Duma  we  realized  that  both 
the  assembly  and  the  palace  in  which  it  meets, 
without  claiming  more,  which  is  unfair,  represent 
a  wonderful  growth  in  five  years.  The  building 
itself  is  a  fine  piece  of  architecture  and  in  its 
simple  dignity  suggests  democracy.  Its  foyer  is 
the  finest  hall  we  saw  in  Russia. 


CHAPTER  III 

RUSSIA   TO  ITALY 

W  ITHIN  less  than  a  week  we  came  from 
the  severe  winter  of  Moscow,  thirteen  degrees 
below  zero,  to  the  most  beautiful,  the  most 
continuously  delightful  weather  I  have  ever 
experienced  in  Rome.  Yet  we  would  not  have 
changed  the  temperature  in  Russia  if  it  had 
been  possible.  We  saw  Russia  in  "the  driven 
snow,"  we  witnessed  its  victory  over  the  ele- 
ments, and  felt  its  power  to  make  one  comfort- 
able and  to  increase  the  delight  of  the  eye  with 
colour  as  the  mercury  fell  —  for  surely  the 
wraps  and  robes  in  warmth  and  variety  of  rich 
and  mellow  colours  are  imexcelled,  and  the 
horses  —  I  have  never  known  such  speed,  dash, 
and  grace  combined.  The  driving  is  a  wonder. 
The  abandon,  the  furious  rush  with  the  finer 
breeds  and  the  magic  accuracy  with  which  they 
take  a  thoroughfare  is  not  surpassed  by  the  rush 
of  motor  cars  on  the  boulevards  in  Paris.  Yet 
the  warning  calls  and  the  ease  with  which  the 

45 


46  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

driver  avoids  an  obstacle,  though  but  by  an 
inch,  reminds  one  of  the  gondoliers  of  Venice, 
the  city  that  Peter  the  Great  attempted  to 
reproduce  in  the  far  north.  The  canals  and 
the  prevailing  Italian  architecture,  notably  in 
the  vast  palaces,  constantly  suggested  the  great 
monarch's  model. 

To  return  to  the  severe  cold.  I  did  not  see 
an  intimation  of  thaw  while  in  Russia.  There 
is  a  sense  of  security  against  disease,  even 
against  taking  cold,  if  one  but  remembers  "to 
keep  warm";  for  one  can  keep  warm  if  their 
methods  are  followed.  Not  once  did  we  suffer 
inconvenience  from  cold  on  the  railroads.  And 
then,  the  matchless  purity  and  beauty  of  the 
snow  in  its  soft,  dead  whiteness! 

When  we  first  saw  the  Kremlin  from  across 
the  river  in  the  full  glory  of  sunlight  and  clothed 
in  this  soft  whiteness  except  the  vast  vertical 
wall-spaces  in  colour,  instinctively  I  felt  the 
gulf  that  separates  the  principle  of  uniformity, 
which  would  encase  the  whole  of  life  in  one 
shining  frigid  mass,  and  that  true  and  universal 
principle  of  life  which  would  fulfil  and  not 
destroy  the  life  of  men  of  every  type  by  relating 
them  to  God  and  to  each  other  in  His  Family. 


RUSSIA  TO  ITALY  47 

The  seemingly  endless  plains  of  Russia  impose  a 
sense  of  wonder  and  mystery  —  a  definite  con- 
sciousness of  power,  power  in  the  past  and 
greater  power  to  come  —  a  feeling  that  they 
will  prevail  and  become  a  mighty  influence  in 
shaping  the  world's  history. 

We  could  have  but  a  few  hours  at  night  in 
Warsaw.  But  a  long  drive  through  the  city 
and  across  the  river  revived  many  memories 
and  gave  the  impression  of  a  city  growing  along 
modern  Hnes  without  sacrificing  its  earlier  char- 
acteristics. In  Vienna  we  were  more  fortunate, 
as  we  saw  the  city  by  day  and  the  opera  at 
night.  The  opera  was  not  a  great  one,  but  a 
brilliant  comedy  was  greatly  done.  The  or- 
chestra is  unique;  where  others  strive  and 
struggle  this  orchestra  rejoices  in  its  work,  not 
vainly,  but  as  the  fruit  of  inheritance  and  life 
work.  It  is  a  priceless  privilege  to  be  able  to 
lighten  the  sobering  work  of  a  life  too  imperfect 
to  do  all  things  by  entering  into  the  harmonies 
of  those  poets  and  prophets  of  life  who  in  long 
and  far  perspective  see  and  feel  the  perfections 
as  well  as  the  frailties  of  life.  I  rejoice  that 
Vienna  is  one  of  the  appointed  stops  on  our 
return  journey  from  Constantinople. 


48  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Italy.  —  The  ride  from  Vienna  to  Venice 
was  new  to  us  and  for  the  first  time  since  sailing 
from  home  a  day  was  spent  in  the  mountains. 
The  same  night  we  went  to  Milan  and  on  Friday- 
visited  the  Countess  Parravacino  at  Villa  Revel, 
Como,  the  home  of  her  father,  General  Revel, 
who  died  last  fall.  He  was  a  very  distinguished 
man  and  the  villa  shows  the  dignity  and  ele- 
gance of  his  tastes,  while  from  its  location  one 
gained  a  new  conception  of  the  lake  and  its 
mountains.  The  countess  gives  herself  almost 
wholly  to  the  Church's  work  and  her  influence 
is  widely  exercised.  It  was  she  who  guided 
me  to  Bishop  Bonomelli  last  year  and  acted  as 
interpreter.  Since  that  time  the  countess  has 
been  a  constant  reader  of  The  Churchman. 
She  translated  into  Italian  and  printed  in  a 
review  which  she  edits  much  of  The  Chltrch- 
man's  reports  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference. 
She  said  that  the  letter  of  Bishop  Bonomelli, 
with  a  part  of  my  address  introducing  it  at 
Edinburgh,  was  printed  in  a  Jesuit  Review  and 
the  conference  highly  commended.  Father 
Genocchi,  the  great  scholar  whom  I  met  later 
in  Rome,  said  that  the  bishop's  letter  had  been 
printed  and  widely  read  and  approved  in  Italy, 


RUSSIA  TO  ITALY  49 

and  no  word  of  criticism  had  appeared  against 
it.  Ambassador  Bryce's  statement  that  Mon- 
signor  Bonomelli's  letter  was  epoch-making 
was  abimdantly  justified  by  what  I  heard  from 
many  sources.  When  I  quoted  Mr.  Bryce's 
words  to  the  King  of  Italy  I  added  quite  inno- 
cently, "author  of  'The  American  Common- 
wealth.'" With  a  perceptible  twinkle  in  his 
eye  the  King  added,  "And  'The  Roman  Em- 
pire.'" Unguardedly,  I  said:  "Of  course,  but 
we  are  more  familiar  with  our  own  history." 
The  twinkle  became  a  hearty  laugh  when 
His  Majesty  replied:  "And  we  with  our  own." 
From  the  King,  from  the  Prime  Minister,  in 
fact  from  statesmen  in  Church  and  State,  I 
heard  but  one  judgment  of  the  Bishop  of  Cre- 
mona, namely,  that  he  is  a  great  spiritual  in- 
fluence—  spiritual  in  its  comprehensive  and 
real  sense. 

To  my  great  disappointment  Bishop  Bono- 
melli  was  ill  with  the  prevailing  influenza,  and 
so  was  Fogazzaro,  and  a  visit  to  them  has  been 
necessarily  delayed.  In  Milan  I  met  Count 
Scotti.  I  was  not  prepared  to  find  so  open- 
minded  and  profound  a  student  of  life.  I  was 
impressed,    above    everything,    by    the    great 


50  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

guiding  motive  of  his  life.  Von  Hiigel  has  the 
same,  Genocchi  has  the  same,  but  this  young 
man,  only  thirty,  has  it  with  all  his  Ufe  before 
him.  Christ  is  their  power  —  and  what  must 
follow,  when  once  all  Christians  understand  it  — 
Christ  in  the  Church  of  His  Incarnation. 
Loyalty  to  Him  and  His  Church  means  and 
can  only  mean  loyalty  to  His  purpose  for  the 
world  —  and  the  oneness  of  His  disciples  for 
the  sake  of  the  world.  I  told  Scotti  of  Baron 
Sonnino's  tribute  to  the  Pope  five  years  ago  — 
the  highest  I  have  ever  heard  from  any  one  — 
and  Scotti  said  he  believed  it  to  be  a  true  inter- 
pretation. In  Rome  a  few  days  later,  I  told 
Baron  Sonnino  of  my  visit  to  Scotti  and  of  the 
deep  impression  his  interpretation  of  the  Pope 
had  made  upon  his  fellow-countryman.  The 
Baron  said,  "I  have  not  changed  my  mind." 
Genocchi  and  Bonomelli  speak  in  the  same 
loving  and  loyal  spirit.  I  emphasize  these 
estimates  from  dififerent,  quite  different,  points 
of  view,  because  out  of  my  h'mited  experience 
I  have  formed  the  same  judgment.  The 
Roman  Communion  possesses  this  note  of  world- 
wideness  of  one  Church  to  an  extent  that  no 
other  communion  does,  and  sometime  I  believe 


RUSSIA  TO  ITALY  51 

it  will  be  generally  recognized.  It  is  this  that 
enables  men  of  the  widest  divergence  to  hold 
on  with  a  life  and  death  grip  to  their  commun- 
ion, no  matter  what  betides.  Let  us  pray  and 
strive  that  the  same  necessity  shall  be  upon  us. 
It  is  the  surest  way  of  helping  ourselves  and 
them  to  the  knowledge  of  a  fuUer  and  richer 
catholicity. 

While  in  Rome  I  called  on  Cardinal  Merry  del 
Val  and  was  received  most  cordially.  I  wished 
especially  to  acknowledge  his  past  courtesies. 
Finding  him  an  interested  listener,  I  told  him 
of  the  conference  in  Constantinople,  of  my  visit 
to  Russia,  and  the  ideal  of  unity  that  is,  as  I 
believe,  the  controlling  principle  of  Christianity. 
When  the  visit  was  over  the  Cardinal  said:  "I 
wish  I  might  accompany  you  on  your  journey. 
I  have  never  been  to  Jerusalem  or  to  Constanti- 
nople." I  also  paid  my  respects  to  Monsignor 
Bisleti  and  found  his  courtesy  as  unfailing  as 
in  the  past.  His  interest  in  the  Russian  visit 
was  active  and  real,  and  we  hope  to  discuss  it 
further  later. 

Just  here  I  am  reminded  of  three  points  of 
view  in  Russia  that  should  be  recorded.  The 
first  I  heard  from  an  eminent  layman  of  the 


52  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Holy  Synod.  He  thought  it  possible  that  the 
severe  attitude  of  Rome  toward  the  Orthodox 
Churches  of  the  East  might  suggest  the  ^\^sdom 
of  seeking  an  alUance  or  union  with  Anglicans 
rather  than  Romans.  He  did  not  feel  sure  that 
such  a  revulsion  had  set  in,  but  that  such  an 
influence  was  or  would  be  at  work  seemed  a 
probability.  I  did  not  hear  this  from  other 
sources  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  such  a  move- 
ment for  such  reasons  will  not  come.  To  go 
against  or  to  go  further  from  some  Christians 
in  order  to  unite  with  others  is  not  a  promising 
road  to  um'ty.  Affinity  for  those  you  like,  or 
prefer,  is  not  a  Christian  principle  and  hes  at 
the  bottom  of  many  of  our  di\isions. 

The  second  point  of  view,  I  heard  expressed 
in  many  directions,  namely,  that  the  Anglican 
and  Eastern  Churches  had  perhaps  more  in 
common  than  Rome  had  with  either,  and  that 
a  union  between  them  might  impress  Rome 
with  their  Catholic  power  of  uniting  and  so 
lead  to  better  feeling  and  understanding.  A 
third  point  of  view  had,  I  think,  many  supporters. 
This  is  that  the  greatest  possibility  of  approach 
hes  between  the  Russian  Church  and  the  Ameri- 
can Episcopal   Church.     I  heard  no  word   of 


RUSSIA  TO   ITALY  53 

antagonism  to  the  English  Church  as  such,  but 
there  was  a  feeling  that  any  sort  of  approach  to 
the  English  Church  would  necessarily  involve 
state  questions.  When  the  suggestion  was 
made  that  Russia  would  enter  on  such  an 
approach  as  a  State  Church  there  were  two 
replies:  first,  that  in  the  case  of  the  Russian 
Church  dealing  with  the  American  Church, 
State  questions  would,  at  least  to  a  degree, 
disappear;  and  second,  that  many  in  Russia 
looked  for  the  day  when  the  Church  would  be 
self-governing    and    self-supporting. 

For  myself,  if  any  one  thing  has  emerged 
distinct  and  clear,  it  is  that  the  time  has  not 
come  for  corporate  planning,  discussion,  or 
conference.  An  enormous  change  of  heart  is 
taking  place  everywhere  through  interchange  of 
thought,  courtesy,  and  personal  touch.  These 
points  of  contact  should  be  multiplied  without 
reserve,  and  corporate  pressure  should  not  be 
used  to  discourage  them.  The  letter  still  kills  — 
the  spirit  still  makes  aHve.  Men  in  great  and 
small  positions  are  consciously,  and  many  more 
are  unconsciously,  helping  forward  this  goodly, 
because  godly,  sense  of  fraternity.  Let  Chris- 
tians recognize  goodness  wherever  they  see  it, 


54  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

knowing  that  it  is  of  God,  and  not  as  unbelievers, 
who  think  there  are  other  sources  of  good 
besides  God,  demand  a  certificate  of  their  own 
theological  systems  as  a  test  of  "goodness" 
that  is  "Christian." 

At  the  request  of  our  ambassador  in  Rome 
the  King  received  me  and  recalled  seeing  me 
several  years  ago.  He  asked  at  once  of  our 
present  mission  to  Constantinople  and  from  the 
first  words  entered  earnestly  into  the  matter  of 
Italy's  representation  at  the  conference.  This 
discussion  led  to  comment  upon  the  growth  of 
better  feeling  and  understanding  between  Chris- 
tians and  between  nations.  It  is  impossible 
to  speak  with  His  Majesty  on  the  betterment  of 
humanity  without  realizing  the  essential  good- 
ness and  nobility  of  his  life.  His  words  carried 
seriousness  and  weight  when  in  response  to  the 
suggestion  that  he  might  desire  to  send  a  message 
of  interest  and  good- will  to  the  Christian  students 
in  conference  at  Constantinople  he  said:  "I 
shall  feel  honoured  to  have  you  deliver  such  a 
message  in  my  name." 

The  Prime  Minister  (for  whose  invitation  to 
visit  him  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Meyer,  the 
Secretary  of   the   Navy)    received  me  with  a 


RUSSIA  TO  ITALY  55 

flood  of  questions  about  the  United  States.  He 
was  especially  concerned,  quoting  from  Mr. 
Bryce's  "American  Commonwealth,"  that  in 
the  face  of  our  great  Federal  Constitution 
guaranteeing  religious  freedom,  a  number  of 
the  States  practically  hmited  the  Constitution 
by  local  laws  imposing  religious  tests.  The 
case  is  not  quite  as  bad  as  Premier  Luzzati  had 
supposed,  as  we  were  able  to  see  by  a  more  care- 
ful reading  of  Mr.  Bryce's  words,  but  it  is 
strange,  Luzzati  thinks  "enormous,"  that  in 
the  face  of  the  Constitution  and  the  action  of 
European  States,  and  that  of  the  vast  majority 
of  the  States  in  the  Union,  such  laws  should  be 
allowed  to  remain  on  the  statute  book.  This 
question  removed,  I  was  not  prepared  for  his 
eager,  searching  questions  about  the  conference 
of  students  at  Constantinople.  But  his  elo- 
quence was  mighty  and  at  white  heat  when  Mr. 
Cortesi,  who  attended  me,  suggested  that  the 
unity  of  Christendom  was  my  ideal.  He  is 
interested  in  the  unity  of  the  religions  of  the 
whole  world  and  spoke  with  power  in  word  and 
gesture  on  this  subject,  which  is  the  inspiring 
principle  of  his  life.  He  has  written  what  I 
am  told  is  a  great  work  on  rehgion.     Finally  he 


56  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

said:  "Yours  is  a  great  mission.  Unite  the 
Christian  Churches  and  you  will  do  a  grand 
work.  But  we  will  not  stop  there.  We  will 
unite  all  in  the  end."  He  asked  that  The 
Churchman  should  be  sent  him  regularly  and 
added:  "I  will  send  you  what  I  have  written." 
Later  the  King,  Genocchi,  and  others  spoke  of 
the  Prime  Minister  as  a  deeply  religious  man. 

It  was  a  privilege  indeed  to  renew  my  ac- 
quaintance with  Baron  Sonnino  —  twice  Prime 
Minister  —  and  always  working  for  the  social 
and  economic  betterment  of  his  people,  especially 
the  submerged  masses  in  the  South.  Count 
Scotti  is  a  co-worker  with  him  in  this  great 
reform,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  who  made 
the  other  out  the  greater  man,  after  one  had 
heard  Scotti  speak  of  Sonnino  and  Sonnino  of 
Scotti.  It  is  the  beginning  of  life  to  have 
religion;  it  is  Hfe,  self -renewing  life,  to  lift  others 
into  Christ's  religion. 

I  looked  in  upon  Boni,  the  archaeologist  of 
the  Forum,  and  found  him  "lost"  in  his  work. 
He  looked  up  in  a  dazed  sort  of  way,  but,  had 
I  not  known  him  and  his  ways,  I  should  have 
been  yet  more  dazed.  When  I  said,  "You  don't 
know  me,"   and  he  replied,  utterly  unmoved 


RUSSIA  TO  ITALY  57 

and  seemingly  immovable,  "Yes;  it  is  Mr. 
McBee.  What  is  it?  What  do  you  want?" 
"Nothing,"  I  said;  "only  called  to  see  you  — 
good-bye."  "There  are  some  things  here  you 
may  care  to  see,"  he  said,  leading  the  way. 
As  he  began  to  handle  his  latest  discoveries, 
the  daintiest  pieces  of  pottery  imaginable, 
the  smile  that  his  friends  know  well  came  over 
his  face,  changing  the  whole  man.  That  smile 
remained  as  we  wandered  from  room  to  room, 
as  if  all  time  was  at  his  disposal.  I  am  no 
archaeologist,  not  even  a  student,  but  I  owe 
Boni  more  than  he  will  ever  know,  for  what  he 
has  opened  to  me  of  the  early  Christians  and 
their  worship.  "It  is  almost  like  creation," 
I  said,  "to  bring  back  the  things  of  the  great 
long  past."  "A  little,"  he  replied,  and,  with 
his  smile  as  a  benediction,  we  parted. 

Rome  has  never  seemed  so  wonderful  to 
me  as  on  this  visit.  The  weather  has  been 
matchless,  friends  old  and  new  more  than  kind 
—  but  perhaps  with  years  life  is  more  filled 
with  the  power  to  receive.  Certainly  the  Rome 
of  which  I  speak,  its  ancient  architecture  and 
art  have  not  changed. 


CHAPTER  IV 
EGYPT 

W  E  first  reached  Egypt  at  the  end  of  Febru- 
ary and  saw  it  again  on  our  return  from  Pales- 
tine and  Syria,  leaving  Alexandria  on  March  29 
for  Italy.  The  day  after  we  rejoined  Dr.  Mott's 
party  in  Cairo  several  of  us  went  to  the  pyramids 
at  Gizeh.  A  storm  was  threatening,  but  Mr. 
Fields  and  I  began  the  ascent.  Mr.  Fields 
reached  the  top;  I  went  but  half-way,  but  even 
from  that  height  I  gained  a  conception  of  the 
desert  that  was  new  and  overpowering.  A 
sand-storm  was  approaching  and  when  it  was 
"full  on"  there  was  a  suggestion  of  power 
added  to  desolation  and  isolation  that  was 
terrific.  There  had  been  grandeur  in  the 
Sphinx,  which  we  had  seen  before  the  storm, 
but  there  was  a  power  in  the  storm  which  seemed 
even  greater  than  that  amazing  symbol  of 
unchangeable  and  unchanging  continuity  had 
expressed.  At  Luxor  and  Karnak  we  saw  the 
temples  and  the  royal  tombs  and  by  a  happy 
58 


EGYPT  59 

coincidence  were  able  to  visit  Mr.  J.  P.  Morgan 
on  his  house-boat  there.  He  was  inspecting 
the  excavations  he  is  having  made  in  the 
desert  near-by  and  was  much  gratified  by  the 
results  already  attained.  All  the  objects  found 
are,  he  said,  to  be  sent  to  the  Metropolitan 
Museum.  He  expresseed  keen  interest  in  the 
coming  conference  at  Constantinople,  as  in  all 
things  that  make  for  Christian  co-operation  and 
unity. 

We  visited  the  American  Mission  School  at 
Luxor  and  addressed  a  body  of  Arabs  there  on 
men's  work.  Dr.  Mott  then  went  to  Assiut 
to  address  the  Synod  of  the  United  Presby- 
terians which  was  being  held  there,  while  I 
returned  to  Cairo  to  meet  the  authorities  of  the 
Coptic  Church  and  others  who  could  give  me 
information  as  to  its  present  condition  and 
outlook.  Arrangements  had  already  been  made 
for  Dr.  Mott  to  give  lectures  to  students  in  a 
theatre  at  Cairo,  and  it  was  thought  that  it 
would  be  in  many  ways  helpful  in  encouraging 
the  attendance  of  Mohammedans  if  we  were 
received  by  the  Khedive.  This  was  arranged 
by  our  Consul-General,  Mr.  Jay.  The  Khedive 
expressed  his  interest  in  such  work  as  we  were 


6o  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

attempting  among  young  men.  It  would,  he 
thought,  tend  to  give  them  higher  conceptions 
of  life  and  strengthen  them  morally  for  the 
duties  of  citizenship. 

A  Visit  to  the  Coptic  Patriarch.  —  Our 
visit  to  the  Patriarch  of  the  Coptic  Church  was 
made  doubly  interesting  by  the  presence  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Alexandria.  The  Coptic  Arch- 
bishop spoke  with  great  frankness  in  answer  to 
our  questions  about  missionary  work  as  the 
test  of  the  Church's  life,  and  said  finally:  "We 
are  living  almost  in  the  dark  ages,  and  we  need 
to  get  out  ourselves  before  we  can  go  to  others." 
Here,  indeed,  was  the  old  creed  that  we  must 
save  ourselves  first,  but  this  good  man  spoke 
with  humility,  and  with  a  conscious  need  of 
help.  Meeting  us  later  in  Alexandria  he  said, 
"Your  visit  here  has  given  me  new  ideas  and 
new  hopes."  The  Patriarch  authorized  us  to 
address  the  students  at  the  Theological  School 
at  Cairo,  and  both  Patriarch  and  Archbishop 
showed  plainly  how  much  they  were  affected 
by  our  interest  in  their  Communion.  At  the 
Theological  School,  both  student  body  and 
faculty  gave  the  closest  attention,  questioning 


JUTf 


#  Cj-z-y/  T  Pmp»  tfAJrx 


CYRIL  v.,  PATRIARCH  OF  ALEXANDRIA.    112TH  SUCCESSOR 
OF  ST.  MARK 


EGYPT  6i 

us  keenly.  The  photograph  of  the  group  by 
Mr.  Fields  aroused  so  much  interest  that  a 
copy  of  it  was  presented  to  each  auditor,  about 
ninety  in  all.  Two  of  the  faculty  are  Moham- 
medans, teachers  of  Arabic. 

The  ancient  Coptic  churches  in  old  Cairo 
were  visited  under  the  friendly  guidance  of  a 
Copt,  Professor  Sobhy  of  the  University,  whose 
aid  was  secured  by  the  kind  intervention  of  the 
British  Agency.  This  professor  is  a  specialist 
in  Coptic  ecclesiology  and  has  been  for  some 
time  engaged  in  a  history  of  that  Church  and 
its  doctrine  under  the  patronage  of  the  Bishop 
of  Salisbury.  He  made  us  feel  that  if  the  life 
of  the  Coptic  Church  could  be  revived,  its 
loyalty  to  faith  and  order  could  surely  be  justi- 
fied. A  scientific  man,  proud  of  his  Church  and 
loyal  to  it,  he  showed  himself  thoroughly  con- 
scious of  the  present  deadness  of  his  Communion, 
and  yet  more  full  of  faith  for  the  future  than  any 
other  Copt  that  we  met.  Certain  that  the 
native  Church  must  vitalize  itself  with  a  hving 
Christianity,  he  was  unshaken  in  his  conviction 
that  Egypt  could  only  be  Christianized  by  its 
native  Church.  The  ablest  men  in  the  Ameri- 
can Mission  share  that  conviction.    The  leader 


62  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

of  that  mission,  Dr.  Watson,  had  been  com- 
mended to  us  by  Lord  Cromer  as  a  wise  man 
and  one  who  had  the  confidence  of  everyone; 
his  belief  that  the  native  historic  Church  is  the 
medium  through  which  Egypt  will  become 
Christian  is  most  significant. 

Fine  Educational  Work  of  the  United 
Presbyterian  Mission.  —  The  Coptic  Church 
is  in  a  pathetic  state.  It  needs,  and  it  should 
have,  the  aid  of  its  sister  Churches.  The 
United  Presbyterians  are  showing  the  possi- 
bilities of  such  aid.  One  of  the  smallest  com- 
munions in  America,  numbering  but  about  one 
hundred  thousand,  it  has,  in  addition  to  its 
missions  in  India  and  elsewhere,  done  a  larger 
work  in  Egypt  than  any  other  Church,  except 
the  Roman  Catholic.  Its  schools  in  Alexandria, 
Cairo,  Assiut,  Luxor  and  elsewhere  include 
almost  every  type  of  Christian  and  Moham- 
medan; its  graduates  are  at  work  in  almost 
every  walk  of  life.  In  Alexandria  the  new 
Coptic  school,  a  fine  modern  building  with  680 
pupils,  has  a  graduate  of  the  American  Mission 
School  —  a  Protestant  —  for  its  head.  Ten 
of  its  twenty-four  teachers  are  also  American 


EGYPT  63 

Mission  School  graduates.  The  Archbishop 
had  deliberately  selected  the  principal,  although 
a  Protestant,  because  of  his  administrative 
ability,  but,  as  he  said,  after  much  hesitation. 
If  the  Churches  of  England  would  do  propor- 
tionately anything  like  what  this  small  body 
of  American  Presbyterians  is  doing,  Christianity 
might  be  manifested  to  Mohammedan  Egypt, 
not  as  sectional,  isolated,  and  divided,  but  in 
its  fulness  and  truth.  Christianity  as  Chris- 
tianity has  not  yet  been  brought  to  bear  on  the 
Mohammedan  world  in  Christ's  way.  The 
Church  must  witness  sohdly,  unitedly.  It 
must  claim  all  faith  in  God,  as  Christ  did, 
and  buUd  on  it.  Christians  must  go  to  the 
ii,cxx5,ooo  Mohammedans  in  Egypt  as  a  unit, 
with  power,  in  patience,  and  with  unbounded 
sympathy.  Under  Mohammedan  influence 
Egypt  cannot  advance  beyond  a  certain  point. 
Mohammedanism  never  has  risen  and  never 
xmder  its  inherent  fataUsm  can  rise  to  the  self- 
controlling,  self-renewing  and  creating  civiliza- 
tion of  the  Christian  nations.  If  Egypt  be 
hopeless  under  Mohammedanism,  it  will  be 
only  in  degree  less  so  under  a  foreign  power 
that  accepts  Mohammedanism  as  a  settled  fact 


64  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

and  seeks  to  control  it  for  governmental  and 
economic  purposes. 

When  we  were  visiting  the  Mosque  of  Sultan 
Hasan,  and  came  to  the  great  open  court,  we 
found  large  halls  with  lofty  barrel-vaulting 
occupying  the  four  ends  of  the  cross  open 
toward  the  court,  each  facing  the  fountain.  I 
asked  the  Mohammedan  guide  what  this  repre- 
sented. He  answered,  "Our  four  sects,"  and 
added  with  a  wicked  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "You 
Christians  know  what  sects  are,  but  we  hold 
ours  together."  The  comment  was  more  subtle 
than  true.  They  have  more  sects  than  four, 
and  the  sects  are  not  united  in  any  positive 
work.  And  yet  the  Mohammedan's  criticism 
of  sectarian  Christianity  stands.  He  has  no 
fear  of  that  kind  of  religion.  It  was  from  a 
window  of  this  mosque  that  we  got  a  rare 
view  of  the  Mosque  of  Mohammed  Ali,  exter- 
nally a  noble  pile,  modelled  after  the  Chris- 
tian Church  of  St.  Sophia  and  speaking  of 
aspirations  wholly  beyond  the  power  of  Mo- 
hammedanism to  fulfil,  a  prophecy  perhaps  of 
what  is  to  come. 

From  Egypt  we  went  to  Syria  and  Palestine. 
I  hope  to  write  later  of  our  experiences  there. 


EGYPT  65 

Leaving  Beirut  on  March  27,  we  reached  Alex- 
andria the  next  day.  Friends  had  arranged 
that  we  should  visit  Abdul  Baha,  the  aged  and 
gifted  son  of  the  prophet  of  the  Bahais.  The 
Bahai  religion  is  a  tremendous  advance  from 
Mohammedanism,  and  the  number  of  its  fol- 
lowers shows  that  that  faith  is  not  impervious 
to  change  and  growth.  He  received  us  with 
rare  simphcity  and  dignity,  and  with  a  hearti- 
ness that  assured  full  and  frank  fellowship. 
Of  his  faith  I  may  say  only  that  it  marks  a  long 
step  from  Mohammedanism  toward  the  Chris- 
tian conception  of  God,  though  it  is  very  far 
from  any  adequate  conception  of  Christ  and 
His  revelation.  I  left  Abdul  Baha  with  an 
intensified  conviction  that  Christians  have 
everything  to  gain  by  sympathetic  and  discrim- 
inating participation  in  every  struggle  for  truth 
and  life.  Abdul  Baha  makes  a  strong  appeal 
for  life  with  God  in  men  and  showed  a  deep 
interest  in  the  work  we  are  doing  both  on  this 
tour  and  at  home. 

The  day  after  the  interview  with  Abdul  Baha 

I  visited  and  addressed  Coptic,  Armenian,  and 

American  mission  schools.     Of  the  director  of 

the  Coptic  school  I  have  already  spoken.    The 

5 


66  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

head  of  the  Armenian  school  is  a  man  of 
ability  and  character  who  has  suffered  for  his 
convictions  by  banishment  and  in  other  ways. 
His  school  presented  many  striking  features, 
among  them  the  singing  of  a  class  of  boys  and 
girls  which  was  very  beautiful.  The  American 
Mission  School  in  Alexandria,  most  ably  con- 
ducted by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Finney  and  a  competent 
staff,  renewed  my  admiration  for  the  work  of 
the  United  Presbyterians,  a  body  to  whom,  as 
may  be  recalled,  the  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement  is  indebted  for  the  enthusiasm  and 
leadership  of  Mr.  J.  Campbell  White.  The 
day  dosed  with  a  last  visit  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Alexandria,  who  expressed  once  more  his  deep 
interest  in  the  work  of  co-operation  and  unity. 
March  31  saw  us  in  the  harbour  of  Corfu, 
with  enchanting  views  on  all  sides,  especially 
that  toward  the  quaint  old  town.  The  imperial 
German  yacht,  "  Hohenzollern "  was  in  the 
harbour  and  the  Emperor  and  Empress  waved 
a  welcome  from  the  bridge  to  our  fellow-passen- 
gers, the  Crown  Prince  and  the  Crown  Princess. 
The  next  morning  we  passed  beneath  the 
shadow  of  Mount  Etna  and  through  the  Straits 
of  Messina. 


EGYPT  67 

Our  plans  called  for  visits  to  so  many  lands 
that  Dr.  Mott  and  I  have  been  little  together, 
even  when  in  the  same  country.  I  can  report 
but  in  barest  outline  the  great  work  that  he  has 
done;  I  had  to  leave  Cairo  for  Jerusalem  before 
his  lectures  began,  but  I  know  that  hundreds 
and  even  thousands  crowded  to  hear  him  in 
Cairo,  as  they  had  done  in  Switzerland.  His 
world-wide  experience  in  enKsting  and  organiz- 
ing the  active  co-operation  of  young  men, 
especially  students,  gives  him  unique  power, 
which  he  uses  with  a  rare  judgment  and  with 
an  ever-increasing  sense  of  the  comprehensive 
character  of  Christian  life  and  practice.  In 
Palestine  and  Syria  we  were  more  than  usually 
together.  At  Constantinople  we  shall  have 
time  to  combine  for  common  use  what  each  has 
seen  and  learned,  as  we  shall  later  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Continuation  Committee  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  in  May.  That  com- 
mittee have  been  invited  to  meet  at  Auckland 
Castle  as  the  guests  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham. 
The  Archbishop  of  York  had  desired  to  have 
the  committee  as  his  guests  at  Bishopthorpe, 
but  the  date.  May  16  to  20,  conflicted  with  that 
of  the  York  Convocation. 


68  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

I  have  said  that  Egypt  would  be  hopeless  if 
left  to  Mohammedan  influences.  It  is  not  so 
left,  for  every  part  of  the  life  of  Christ  has  in 
it  power  to  save,  and  that  hfe  is  in  Egypt  in 
the  mission  work  of  the  few  who  have  done 
wonders  in  their  sphere  and  in  the  impact  of 
Christian  civilizations,  which,  however  im- 
perfect, are  having  an  e£fect.  But  Moham- 
medanism as  a  whole  remains  untouched,  and 
what  I  wish  I  might  have  the  gift  to  say  with 
compelling  power  to  millions  in  Christian  lands 
is  that  the  impact  of  a  united  Christianity, 
the  Christianity  of  Christ,  and  the  Christianity 
for  which  He  prayed,  will  alone  lift  Moham- 
medans into  the  fulness  of  life. 


CHAPTER    V 

PALESTINE   AND   SYRIA 

X  HE  struggle  to  hold  these  papers  strictly 
to  the  purpose  of  our  tour  seems  greater  than 
ever  as  I  seek  to  reproduce  impressions  of  that 
part  of  the  world  which,  it  may  be  said,  "con- 
centrates the  sympathy  as  it  constitutes  the 
identity  of  nations."  My  task,  almost  exclu- 
sively, has  been  to  acquire  from  representatives 
of  Christian  Churches  a  fuller  knowledge  of 
the  genius  and  spirit  of  their  institutions  and 
to  lay  ground  for  a  better  understanding  be- 
tween them  and  us  on  the  principle  of  daring 
to  believe  in  one's  best  self  and  in  the  best  in 
others.  This  principle  would,  indeed,  lead  to 
worse  than  mere  dreaming,  it  would  lead  to 
folly  and  weakness  if  one  did  not  realize  that 
the  daring  consists  in  knowing  the  bad  in  our- 
selves and  in  others,  and  yet  beheving  in  the 
best. 

I  hesitate  to  write  of  things  seen  in  Pales- 
tine, for  I  am  in  haste  to  tell  of  the  people  who 
69 


70  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

welcomed  us  and  discussed  the  great  question 
of  unity  as  if  they  had  been  awaiting  good  news 
of  progress  toward  this  great  end.  But  this 
I  will  say:  The  eastern  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean brought  back  vividly  the  studies  of 
childhood  and  youth.  As  we  drew  near  to 
Jaffa  with  its  forbidding  rocks  and  dangerous 
seas  the  records  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
seemed  to  blend  in  a  chorus  of  description  of 
the  dangers  of  the  shores  of  this  little  town. 
Our  landing,  however,  in  spite  of  appearances, 
was  easy  and  comfortable.  But  when  later  we 
took  ship  from  Jaffa  the  sea  was  at  the  danger 
limit,  and  our  boat,  with  its  twelve  oarsmen, 
had  to  take  the  greatest  waves  I  have  ever 
encountered,  and  to  take  them  in  an  opening 
between  rocks  that  certainly  were  not  over 
twenty  feet  apart.  But  the  oarsmen  struck 
the  centre  with  precision,  enlivening  their  work 
with  a  song  that  gave  a  weird  charm  to  the 
experience.  The  crown  of  our  adventure  was 
to  come  later.  We  approached  the  ship,  but 
no  gangway  was  lowered  for  us.  It  seemed 
impossible  that  anyone  could  get  aboard.  I 
was  about  calling  to  the  captain  to  lower  the 
gangway  when,  on  the  tip  of  a  wave,  the  boat 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  71 

rose  high,  and  before  my  anxious  exhortation 
for  help  could  be  uttered,  two  strong  men  from 
above  and  two  from  below  had  deftly  landed 
me  on  the  deck.  Breathless,  I  turned  to  warn 
them  not  to  handle  the  women  like  that  — 
and  behold  my  wife  stood  by  my  side,  having 
been  landed  in  the  same  way ! 

But  now  of  Jerusalem.  If  there  be  imtruth 
in  the  distressingly  sad  things  that  one  hears  of 
the  city  it  must  be  because  the  whole  truth  of 
that  sadness  has  not  been  told,  and  yet,  the 
full  glory  of  the  truth  of  the  good  things  in  it 
can  never  be  told.  We  arrived  Saturday  night 
and  went  on  Sunday  morning  to  the  Church  at 
the  Sepulchre.  I  must  be  allowed  to  think  of 
it  as  "The  Sepulchre"  without  any  descriptive 
word.  When  the  first  money-changer  shook 
his  soiled  tow  bag  with  its  jangle  and  called  out 
"Money  changed!"  it  would  be  impossible  to 
describe  the  associations  aroused.  As  we  went 
down  the  narrow,  sordid  streets  with  the  shops 
displaying  their  wares,  and  met  an  ass  with  a 
colt  by  its  side,  and  finally  came  to  the  little 
court  facing  the  entrance  with  the  touchingly 
pitiful  wares  of  people  too  poor  for  a  Westerner 
to  imagine,  scattered  along  to  the  very  door  of 


72  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

the  church,  one  wondered  in  what  era  we  were 
living.  On  entering  we  found  the  Armenian 
Church  exercising  its  privilege  of  worship  by 
taking  its  turn  with  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  and 
the  Coptic  Churches,  with  so  many  lamps 
allotted  to  each.  Multiplicity  of  ownership 
seemed  to  take  the  place  of  the  common  inheri- 
tance of  mankind. 

From  the  Sepulchre  we  went  out  of  the  city 
to  the  Russian  Church  and  then  to  the  English 
Church,  wondering  at  the  loneliness  of  the  one 
without  the  other.  In  the  afternoon  we  were 
starting  out  again  alone  (for  it  is  my  long  and 
deliberately  formed  habit  to  get  first  impres- 
sions without  a  professional  guide,  in  order  that 
they  may  be  mine),  when  in  some  way,  which  I 
cannot  recall,  a  young  Syrian,  Gelak,  a  graduate 
of  the  American  College  at  Beirut,  offered  to 
attend  us  to  the  Temple  area.  He  tendered 
his  services,  he  said,  because  it  would  be  an 
honour  to  serve  one  who  was  a  friend  of  Dr. 
Bliss,  the  president  of  the  college  to  which  he 
owed  more  than  he  would  ever  be  able  to  repay. 
He  proved  an  invaluable  companion  and  a  true 
friend.  He  was  a  Roman  Catholic  and,  there- 
fore, his  tribute  to  Dr.  Bliss  and  the  Protestant 


PALESTINE  AND  SYRIA  73 

College  at  Beirut  was  all  the  more  real  and  worth 
while.  We  found  our  way  through  the  same 
streets  to  the  Temple  area  and  visited  the  great 
Mosque.  Before  leaving  for  a  drive  to  the 
Moimt  of  Olives,  I  walked  to  the  parapet  and 
looking  through  the  pierced  wall  was  overcome 
by  the  suddenness  of  the  drop  and  the  depth 
of  the  Valley  of  Kedron.  It  was  that  sense  of 
awe  which  the  perpendicular  line  imposes, 
whether  looking  up  or  down.  At  my  exclama- 
tion our  friend  said,  pointing  through  the 
opening,  "Over  there  is  the  Garden  of  Geth- 
semane."  I  did  not  see  the  formal  garden.  I 
was  not  interested  to  locate  the  actual  spot. 
I  realized  that  no  device  of  man  could  remove 
the  indestructible  facts  in  human  history,  for 
which  valley  and  hillside,  garden  and  moun- 
tain-top stood  witness.  The  reahty  of  the 
Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life  was  the  most  nor- 
mal, the  most  vivid  experience  that  had  ever 
come  to  me.  Returning  after  the  visit  to  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  the  accounts  in  the  Scriptures 
were  read  aloud  during  the  evening,  and  they 
seemed  indeed  the  record  of  the  Word.  Scrip- 
tures, human  life,  divine  life,  seemed  perfectly 
at  one. 


74  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

On  the  journey  to  Bethlehem  —  for  I  will 
not  attempt  to  describe  the  uplifting  and  in- 
spiring return  from  Bethany  by  evening  light  — 
a  few  miles  out  from  Jerusalem  as  the  road  sur- 
mounts the  hill,  and  Bethlehem  is  seen,  the 
effect  is  startling.  Great,  barren,  rocky  hills 
rise  on  the  left  against  the  inconceivably  won- 
derful marine  blue  atmosphere  of  the  Jordan 
valley,  with  the  Dead  Sea  a  little  further  beyond. 
In  the  foreground  is  the  sloping  hill  on  which 
rests  the  City  of  the  Nativity,  surrounded  by 
terraced  gardens  that  fill  the  picture  with 
shadow  and  bring  out  the  greenness  of  the 
grass  and  the  colour  of  the  flowers.  On  a  still 
greater  ascending  slope  to  the  right  a  large 
forest  of  olive  trees  reaches  squarely  to  the  sky. 
As  I  looked  at  all  these  the  wonder  of  the  vision 
increased  and  I  realized  that  it  was  not  within 
the  power  of  man  to  efface  the  combined  power 
and  glory  of  this  earthly  witness. 

The  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem.  —  There  are 
more  patriarchs  than  one  in  Jerusalem.  It  is 
of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Patriarch  that  I  speak. 
The  English  Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  Dr.  Blyth, 
to  whom  I  bore  a  letter  from  our  Presiding 


4-  <^^Y>^^'y'^^^;>7^'o^-¥" 


C«LX.<»-/S 


THE  PATRIARCH   OF  JERUSALEM 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  75 

Bishop,  had  arranged  with  the  Patriarch  to 
receive  me.  After  I  had  explained  the  object 
of  my  journey,  His  Beatitude  responded  in  a 
way  that  showed  that  he  was  oppressed  with  a 
great  need,  not  merely  the  need  of  religious 
and  political  freedom,  but  need  arising  from  the 
consciousness  that  a  united  Christianity  could 
alone  secure  the  fulfilment  of  Christ's  mission 
to  the  world.  That  conception  of  unity  met 
us  again  and  again  with  cumulative  force  in 
Palestine  and  Syria.  It  arises,  doubtless,  from 
the  helplessness  of  seemingly  hopeless  divisions 
of  Christians  under  an  alien  government  and 
in  the  face  of  a  Mohammedan  population  united 
not  in  any  positive  or  aggressive  propaganda, 
but  in  dead  opposition  to  progress.  Their 
consciousness  of  the  need  of  unity,  both  among 
themselves  and  in  the  great  Churches  of  the 
world,  is  surprisingly  real,  and  its  intensity 
seems  increasing.  I  told  the  Patriarch  of  signs 
of  promise  in  the  Russian  Church  that  might 
result  in  better  understanding  and  more  fra- 
ternal relations  between  that  great  communion 
and  our  own,  but  I  called  his  attention  also  to 
the  fact  that  under  the  traditional  understand- 
ing with  the  Patriarchs  of  the  other  Orthodox 


76  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

Churches  nothing  could  be  done  until  the 
various  Patriarchs  had  given  their  consent.  Im- 
mediately and  with  evident  conviction  His 
Beatitude  replied:  "Whenever  the  Holy  Synod 
in  Russia  and  the  Patriarch  at  Constantinople 
agree  upon  a  step  toward  unity  you  may  rest 
assured  that  the  other  Patriarchs  will  quickly 
follow  their  lead."  The  same  afternoon  I 
called  on  him  again  with  Dr.  Mott,  who  had 
arrived  in  Jerusalem  from  Egypt.  On  behalf 
of  the  Edinburgh  Committee  Dr.  Mott  pre- 
sented to  the  Patriarch  the  nine  volumes  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference  Report.  His  Beatitude 
was  impressed  by  the  gift,  and  having  heard  of 
it  in  advance  presented  a  handsome  volume  of 
the  flowers  of  Palestine  as  a  return  gift  to  Dr. 
Mott.  We  went  again  into  the  question  of 
co-operation  and  Dr.  Mott,  after  emphasizing 
the  significance  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference, 
spoke  briefly  but  very  forcibly  of  the  Student 
Movement  in  all  countries  and  of  the  world 
Congress  to  be  held  in  Constantinople.  The 
Patriarch  spoke  earnestly,  as  in  the  morning,  of 
unity.  When  asked  what  suggestions  he  would 
make  as  to  practical  steps  to  that  end,  his  reply 
was  very  significant:     "I  must  take   time   to 


PALESTINE  AND  SYRIA  77 

think  that  matter  out,  and  if  you  will  name  an 
hour  at  which  I  may  find  you  at  your  hotel  to- 
morrow, I  will  then  answer  your  question." 
His  Beatitude  called  promptly  at  the  hour  the 
next  day,  and  answered  our  questions  through  his 
priest  as  interpreter,  essentially  in  these  words: 

''The  propagation  of  Christianity  among  the 
heathen  by  modern  missions  will  be  successful 
if  Christianity  is  propagated  by  the  same 
methods  as  were  used  in  the  first  days  of  the 
Christian  era,  and  the  mission  will  progress  in 
proportion  to  the  means  they  have;  that  is  to 
say:  (i)  Christianity  will  be  extended  among 
pagans  if  they  understand  that  the  Christian 
societies  or  communions  are  morally  better  and 
live  in  love  and  concord.  Therefore,  the  great 
necessity  is  the  union  of  the  Churches  and  then 
the  moral  improvement  of  the  societies  through 
the  united  Churches.  (2)  The  co-operation  of 
all  missions  and  the  submission  of  them  under 
international  protection,  so  that  in  case  of  any 
harm  or  offence  an  international  interference 
could  be  exercised  against  the  offenders.  Other- 
wise, when  one  mission  undermines  another, 
and  a  Christian  communion  is  not  keen  in  the 
fortunes  of  another  mission,  in  such  a  case  they 


78  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

will  meet  great  obstacles  in  the  way.  (3)  The 
missions  must  be  free  of  any  political  aspirations; 
for  as  long  as  the  pagans  think  that  the  missions 
intend  to  create  political  conquests  the  suspicion 
of  the  pagan  wiU  be  aroused.  (4)  The  missions 
must  work  for  the  civilization  and  enhghten- 
ment  of  the  people  wherein  Christianity  is  to  be 
propagated." 

The  Patriarch  and  his  priest,  Themelis, 
remained  with  us  for  more  than  an  hour  dis- 
cussing these  points,  as  bearing  on  co-operation 
and  unity.  Their  courtesy  was  generous  in  the 
extreme.  Many  delicate  courtesies  were  ex- 
tended to  us,  none  showing  more  finely  the  spirit 
of  unity  than  when  Priest  Themelis  conducted 
me,  according  to  an  arrangement  that  he  had 
previously  made,  to  the  early  Eucharist  cele- 
brated by  the  chaplain  of  Bishop  Blyth,  in  the 
Greek  chapel  just  above  Golgotha,  the  use  of 
which  had  been  tendered  to  the  Anglican  bishop, 
with  true  Christian  fraternity,  by  the  Patriarch. 
Our  discussions  with  the  Patriarch  gave  the 
strongest  evidence  of  the  advantage  to  all  com- 
munions of  a  better  understanding  of  the  grounds 
of  agreement,  and  a  clearer  conception  of  what 
the  differences  are  and  in  what  classification 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  79 

they  belong.  It  becomes  dearer  to  everyone  who 
puts  the  theory  of  unity  into  practice  and  who 
believes  it  to  be  irreverent  if  not  something 
worse,  not  to  attempt  that  for  which  one  prays, 
that  the  things  in  which  all  are  agreed  are  of 
God  and  are,  therefore,  first  things,  and  that 
practically  all  disagreements  He  in  the  domain  of 
man's  effort  to  express  in  human  terms  God  and 
His  Christ. 

The  Latin  Patriarch.  —  I  was  invited  by 
a  native,  a  member  of  the  Latin  Communion, 
who  had  come  to  know  what  I  was  attempting 
to  do,  to  visit  his  own  Patriarch,  but  I  felt  it 
important  to  consult  Bishop  Blyth.  He,  with- 
out the  sUghtest  hesitation,  urged  me  to  do  so, 
and  gave  me  a  personal  letter  of  introduction 
speaking  in  the  highest  and  friendliest  terms  of 
him.  I  was  received  the  next  morning  with  a 
heartiness  as  generous  as  it  was  unexpected.  It 
quickly  developed  that  Father  Genocchi,  who 
had  already  proved  a  good  and  stimulating 
friend,  had  been  the  superior  of  His  Beatitude 
many  years  before.  At  the  mention  of  Mgr. 
Bonomelli's  name  the  Patriarch's  face  hghted 
with  joy,  and  I  found  it  easy  to  tell  of  my  travels 


8o  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

and  of  my  conviction  that  unity  was  funda- 
mental, the  first  of  first  things.  The  reception 
room  was  filled  with  people  who  had  engage- 
ments with  His  Beatitude,  yet  he  not  only  made 
a  place  for  me  but  invited  me  at  once  into  his 
private  reception  room.  He  spoke  frankly  of  the 
pressure  upon  him,  and  as  frankly  said  that  he 
desired  to  hear  what  I  had  to  say.  He  expressed 
his  sympathy  with  the  effort  to  create  that 
spirit  of  unity  which  can  alone  come  in  a  living 
way  by  praying,  and  thinking,  and  doing  to- 
gether the  things  that  can  be  done  in  order  that 
the  things  that  cannot  yet  be  done  may  become 
possible. 

The  Russian  Archimandrite.  —  The  word 
that  preceded  me  from  Russia,  together  with 
the  letter  I  brought  myself,  assured  a  warm 
welcome  from  the  Archimandrite,  but  the  very 
hearty  greeting  of  His  Excellency  carried  me 
back  with  a  sort  of  home  feeling  to  Russia.  The 
Russian  compound  is  one  of  the  most  impres- 
sive at  Jerusalem.  Already  about  two  thou- 
sand pilgrims  had  arrived  and  it  was  certain 
that  the  number  would  increase  to  six  thousand 
before  Easter.    The  significance  of  this  ever- 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  8i 

flowing  tide  of  pilgrims  from  far-away  Russia 
is  variously  interpreted;  but  their  conduct  in 
the  Holy  Land  and  their  devotion  is  most  im- 
pressive. They  do  not  come  for  a  hurried  visit, 
but  visit,  generally  on  foot,  every  sacred  spot 
in  Palestine,  going  to  many  of  them,  I  was  told, 
many  times  over.  As  a  rule  they  are  elderly 
men  and  women,  strong  in  body  —  the  men, 
with  great  beards  and  long  hair,  tramping  with 
the  steadiness  and  evident  power  to  endure  of 
the  seasoned  soldier.  Though  for  the  most 
part  ignorant,  they  seem  certain  of  their  way 
and  of  the  objects  they  seek,  and  rarely  show 
signs  of  uncertainty.  As  we  went  to  the  Sepul- 
chre on  Sunday  morning  we  passed  hundreds 
of  them  returning.  They  go  as  a  rule  many 
together,  but  it  is  common  to  find  small  bands 
and  now  and  then  a  solitary  pilgrim.  They 
are  unmistakable  because  of  their  stature  and 
the  character  of  their  clothing.  Type  and  num- 
bers were  especially  marked  at  Bethlehem.  I 
was  particularly  drawn  to  two  very  old  men  who 
were  bartering  for  the  common  brown  bread. 
When  they  had  finished  I  offered  my  hand  to 
each.     I  could  not  understand  a  word  of  their 

language  nor  they  of  mine,  but  the  smile  that 
6 


L 


82  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

accompanied  the  warmth  of  the  handshake 
demonstrated  what  I  had  felt  all  along,  that  they 
felt  themselves  in  the  land  of  universal  brother- 
hood. The  bond  was  as  strong,  the  intelligence 
as  perfect  as  on  the  day  when  under  the  power 
of  the  descending  Spirit  dwellers  from  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth  understood  each  the 
language  of  the  other.  I  wrote  to  the  Metro- 
politan of  St.  Petersburg  and  to  the  Grand 
Duchess  Elizabeth  that  the  Russian  pilgrims 
showed  the  possession  of  a  deep  religious  sense 
which,  when  aroused  and  enlightened,  would 
mean  much  for  Russia  and  much  for  the  Chris- 
tian world.  I  talked  with  the  Archimandrite 
of  this  common  and  universal  character  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  when  His  Excellency  returned  my 
visit  we  talked  even  longer.  When  just  before 
leaving  I  saw  him  once  more  we  had  an  even 
more  extended  discussion,  which  culminated  in 
his  urging  me  to  remain  for  the  great  Easter 
celebration.  I  felt  in  his  enthusiastic  hospi- 
tality as  if  I  were  again  in  my  old  home  in  the 
South,  under  the  training  of  our  beloved  rector 
and  priest  for  the  Easter  service  ^which  he  had 
not  failed  to  hold  exactly  at  sunrise  for  forty 
years   before   he   died.     When   His   Excellency 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  83 

left  the  room  to  inscribe  his  photograph  as  a 
souvenir  of  my  visit,  his  secretary,  a  Syrian 
layman  who  had  been  educated  at  Kief  in 
Russia,  said  in  response  to  my  expressed  anxiety 
lest  I  had  kept  His  Excellency  too  long,  "Not  at 
all.  His  Excellency  regrets  that  you  are  leaving, 
for  it  has  not  often  been  our  privilege  to  talk  so 
much  of  the  great  question  of  unity."  I  mention 
this  fact  because  it  would  be  impossible  to  re- 
port the  many  conversations  with  laymen  of 
low  and  high  degree,  as  well  as  representatives  of 
the  clergy,  on  this  vital  question.  There  is  va- 
riety at  almost  every  turn,  there  is  hesitancy 
in  lesser  or  greater  degree  in  every  direction. 
But  the  subject  compels  attention  and  ensures 
interested  discussion  wherever  it  is  raised. 

The  Anglican  Bishop  in  Jerusalem. — It  is 
a  question  in  my  mind  whether  anyone  in  the 
English  Church  or  our  own  has  adequately 
estimated  the  work  of  Bishop  Blyth  in  Palestine. 
With  a  patience  equal  to  his  spirit  of  peace  and 
friendship,  he  has  gone  on  from  year  to  year 
till  his  relations  with  practically  every  Com- 
munion represented  at  Jerusalem  indicate  the 
power  of  the  spirit  of  unity  when  put  into  simple 


84  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

practice.  The  whole  of  divided  Christendom 
seems  to  be  represented  at  Jerusalem.  The 
first  impression  is  that  they  have  gathered  there 
to  emphasize  their  differences  and  to  contend 
for  their  particular  points  of  view.  But  it 
seems  safer,  surely  wiser  and  fairer,  to  recognize 
the  fact  that  all  have  had  a  common  object  in 
going  there.  They  have  gathered  there  around 
the  historic  places  of  our  Lord's  Life  on  earth 
in  order  that  they  may  know  Him,  the  Christ 
of  God,  better  and  more  intimately.  Certainly 
this  is  the  point  of  view  of  Bishop  Blyth;  and 
as  a  letter  from  him  was  a  passport  to  the  heads 
of  Churches  as  well  as  to  others,  so  from  all 
sources  one  heard  of  the  eirenic  character  of  his 
administration  of  the  trust  committed  to  him, 
a  trust  surrounded  by  difficulties,  traditional 
and  otherwise.  After  a  long  talk  with  Dr. 
Mott  and  me,  which  covered  many  questions  as 
to  the  condition  of  the  Christian  Churches,  and 
of  the  Mohammedan  population  and  their 
religion.  Dr.  Mott,  out  of  his  long  experience 
said:  "I  think  the  bishop  gave  us  the  sanest  and 
most  complete  analysis  of  the  situation  I  have 
ever  heard."  The  bishop's  letters  to  the  Ortho- 
dox Metropolitan  of  Beirut  and  to  the  Patriarch 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  85 

of  Antioch  were  accepted  in  the  same  spirit  in 
which  his  letters  in  Jerusalem  were  received. 
I  but  reflect  the  mind  of  those  with  whom  we 
came  in  contact  in  making  this  acknowledg- 
ment to  the  bishop  in  Jerusalem  on  behalf  of 
ourselves  and  of  many  who,  knowing  the  cir- 
cumstances, would  be  glad  to  pay  the  same 
tribute.  Bishop  Bly th  has  persisted  in  the  face  of 
opposition,  and  when  many  in  whom  he  put  the 
surest  confidence  were  faint-hearted.  Yet  with 
simplicity  and  humility  he  claims  not  power, 
personal  or  oflScial,  but  the  work  of  the  Spirit. 

A  Mass  Meeting  on  Unity.  —  Dr.  Mott  did 
not  reach  Jerusalem  until  three  days  after  we 
got  there,  and  could  remain  only  two  nights, 
as  the  trip  thrQUgh  the  country  to  Nazareth 
and  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  on  to  Damascus 
had  been  planned  for  all  of  us.  We  both  had 
severe  colds  and  it  was  necessary  to  give  up  our 
part  in  this  trip.  It  was  a  serious  disappoint- 
ment, but  it  gave  us  four  days  more  in  Jerusalem. 
On  one  of  the  two  nights  Dr.  Mott  spoke  to  a 
body  of  missionaries  on  the  devotional  aspect 
of  missionary  work.  On  the  other  he  and  I 
spoke  to  a  mass  meeting  which  overflowed  the 


86  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

building,  so  that  many  were  turned  away.  The 
meeting,  we  were  told,  was  unique  in  that 
practically  every  Communion  was  represented 
—  Latins,  Greeks,  Protestants,  Armenians,  and 
others  —  even  Mohammedans.  I  spoke  first 
on  the  subject  of  the  unity  of  Christendom  and 
its  mission  to  fulfil  Christ's  prayer  for  the  whole 
world.  Dr.  Mott  followed  with  a  telling  appeal 
for  the  organization  of  a  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  order  to  begin  the  work  of  co- 
operation among  laymen  of  every  kind  and  thus 
make  a  foimdation  for  co-operation  as  a  step 
toward  unity.  I  have  never  seen  conditions 
that  more  clearly  demand  just  such  an  organi- 
zation. It  is  difficult  to  conceive  of  the  depriva- 
tions and  the  isolation  of  young  men  in 
Jerusalem.  It  would  be  idle  to  attempt  to  say 
what  such  an  opportunity  at  such  a  place  meant 
to  both  of  us.  It  was  sobering  and  inspiring, 
simply  to  look  over  the  audience;  here  in  the 
front  row  was  Themelis,  the  Patriarch  of  Jeru- 
salem's priest,  in  full  sacerdotal  garb;  near  him 
sat  two  Latins;  in  the  rear  of  the  hall  was  seen 
Dr.  McKenzie,  the  noted  archaeologist,  and  by 
him  another  Scotch  Presbyterian  who  was  just 
then  travelling  in  Palestine.    There  were  mem- 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  87 

bers  also  of  the  C.  M.  S.  and  of  the  S.  P.  G., 
consular  representatives  of  different  countries, 
and  many  other  types. 

A  Visit  to  the  Dominicans.  —  There  is  no 
more  impressive  body  of  men  at  Jerusalem  than 
the  Dominican  Fathers.  Their  church,  their 
buildings,  and  they  themselves  in  their  white 
flannel  robes,  speak  of  a  cleanliness  and  purity 
not  usual,  to  speak  with  the  greatest  caution 
in  Palestine,  and  all  men  speak  of  the  purity 
and  holiness  of  their  lives.  The  church  is  not 
a  great  one,  but  it  has  dignity  and  induces  a 
spirit  of  reverence  and  of  normal  worship.  They 
are  a  band  of  scholars,  and  exercise  the  utmost 
freedom,  however  difiicult  and  delicate  the 
situation  may  be.  They  are  loyal,  and  respect- 
fully so,  to  the  authorities  of  their  Church;  they 
are,  however,  sustained  largely  by  the  French 
Goverrmient.  Of  course,  their  great  scholars, 
Pere  Legrange  and  Pere  Vincent,  are  known  the 
world  over.  I  had  in  one  of  my  visits  the 
privilege  of  an  earnest  talk  with  Pere  Legrange, 
and  later  we  met  him  on  the  train  leaving  Jeru- 
salem. It  was  indeed  a  privilege  and  one  felt 
stimulated,  by  his  faithful  and  fearless  scientific 


88  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

research,  to  a  greater  holiness  and  consecration 
to  the  truth.  A  little  incident  will  tell  its  own 
story  of  how  these  Dominicans  keep  in  touch 
with  the  world.  I  had  been  talking  with  a 
young  Englishman,  a  graduate  of  Oxford,  and 
had  mentioned  in  view  of  some  questions  he  had 
asked,  Dr.  DuBose's  "Gospel  in  the  Gospels." 
He  was  doubtful  whether  he  would  be  able  to 
read  this  and  other  books  by  the  same  author, 
and  I  suggested  that  he  should  read  in  the 
Journal  of  Theological  Studies  a  review  of  Dr. 
DuBose's  theology  and  philosophy,  by  Mr. 
Moberly,  of  Oxford.  It  so  happened  that  this 
young  man  took  me  to  call  on  Pere  Barker  — 
one  of  the  youngest  of  the  Dominicans  —  the 
next  day,  and  we  were  shown  through  the  church 
and  the  other  buildings  and  finally  through  the 
library.  I  asked  Pere  Barker  if  he  knew  Dr. 
DuBose's  writings.  He  did  not  know  much  of 
them,  he  said,  but  he  knew  that  "The  Gospel 
in  the  Gospels"  was  in  the  Hbrary.  The  Eng- 
lishman, just  then,  saw  l3ang  at  hand  a  copy  of 
the  Journal  of  Theological  Studies  and  on  Pere 
Barker's  handing  it  to  him  it  was  found  to  con- 
tain Mr.  Moberly's  article.  The  coincidence 
was  interesting;    the  incident  was  typical. 


PALESTINE  AND  SYRIA  89 

Work  Among  the  Jews  in  Jerusalem.  —  It 
would  be  a  manifest  injustice  not  to  speak  of 
a  body  of  people  who  cc«istitute  the  great 
majority  of  the  population  of  Jerusalem,  and 
yet  there  is  not  a  great  deal  to  be  said  of  the 
work  among  the  Jews  and  I  am  not  sufficiently 
informed  to  use  other  than  very  general  terms. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  Christians  accomplish 
little  in  the  way  of  converting  the  Jews  in  Jeru- 
salem, because  that  is  the  story  practically 
everywhere.  I  looked  sufficiently  into  the 
medical  mission  of  the  London  Society  for 
Promoting  Christianity  among  the  Jews  to  know 
something  of  that  work.  It  had  its  beginning 
in  1824  but  did  not  get  on  a  permanent  foot- 
ing until  1842,  when  Dr.  MacGowan  arrived  in 
Jerusalem  in  company  with  Bishop  Alexander, 
the  first  Anglican  bishop  in  Jerusalem.  Dr. 
MacGowan  opened  the  first  hospital  for  Jews, 
Christian  or  otherwise,  in  Palestine  in  1844, 
and  that  work  has  continued  until  to-day.  Four 
medical  superintendents  cover  its  administra- 
tions for  nearly  seventy  years:  Dr.  MacGowan, 
Dr.  Chaplin,  Dr.  Wheeler  and  Dr.  Masterman, 
the  present  superintendent.  The  Jewish  popu- 
lation in  the  beginning  was  imder  ten  thousand; 


90  AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

to-day  it  is  at  least  sixty-five  thousand.  The 
new  hospital  was  opened  in  1897  and  the  work 
consists  of  "one  of  the  best  built  and  most 
beautiful  mission  hospitals  in  the  world,"  with 
an  average  of  1,550  in-patients  annually,  dis- 
pensaries for  out-patients,  which  treat  some 
33,800  patients  each  year,  and  the  home  visits, 
which  average  about  3,500  annually.  It  is 
calculated  that  some  fifty  different  languages 
are  spoken  daily  in  Jerusalem,  of  which  far  the 
larger  part  are  spoken  by  Jews.  In  addition  to 
this  medical  work  for  the  Jews  there  are  excel- 
lent hospital  accommodations  for  the  Moslems 
and  native  Christians,  also  the  Russian,  French, 
Greek  and  the  Municipal  Hospitals  are  well 
equipped  and  are  open  to  Moslems  or  Christians, 
while  the  British  Ophthalmic  Hospital  provides 
in-  and  out-patient  treatment  for  eye  diseases 
and  the  excellent  Moravian  Hospital  treats  any 
cases  of  leprosy.  I  have  given  these  facts  to 
show  how  weU-equipped  Jerusalem  is  to  deal 
with  the  diseased  and  the  suffering.  Yet  in 
the  face  of  the  distinctly  mission  character  of 
the  medical  work  of  the  London  Society  it  is 
said  that  very  little  impression  is  made  upon  the 
Jewish  population  from  a  Christian  standpoint, 


PALESTINE  AND  SYRIA  91 

and  it  seems  a  vital  point  to  make  clear,  as  I 
endeavoured  to  do  in  the  case  of  Mohamme- 
dans in  Egypt,  that  no  department  of  Christi- 
anity, however  efficient,  and  no  sect  or  section  of 
Christianity,  however  devoted  and  consecrated, 
is  equal  to  doing  the  work  of  Christianizing  the 
Mohammedans  and  the  Jews,  or  the  great  mass 
of  mankind.  The  world-embracing  love  of 
God  was  what  Christ  came  to  make  plain  to  man- 
kind. From  the  beginning  He  taught  this  and 
concentrated  all  His  teaching  in  His  last  prayer 
when  he  declared  that  the  unity  of  His  disciples 
was  the  one  evidence  that  would  convince  the 
world  that  God  had  so  loved  it  that  He  had  sent 
Him  to  save  it.  It  is  an  unreasonable  demand 
upon  missionaries  to  expect  them  to  convince  the 
world  without  that  evidence  —  when,  in  fact, 
they  are  sent  out  by  isolated  sects  to  make  plain 
to  mankind  God's  love  without  the  evidence 
which  Christ  said  was  necessary  to  make  the 
Gospel  believed. 

The  American  College  at  Beirut.  —  We 
joined  Dr.  Mott's  party  again  in  Beirut.  Here 
he  gave  a  series  of  evangelical  addresses  to  a 
conference  of  students  from  various  parts  of  the 


92  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Levant  in  the  American  College  under  the  presi- 
dency of  Dr.  Bliss.  My  trip  to  Damascus  pre- 
vented my  attending  the  whole  of  the  conference 
and  I  had  to  leave  Beirut  the  day  before  it  closed. 
I  was  asked,  however,  to  speak  on  unity,  and 
a  whole  morning  session  was  devoted  to  the 
address.  All  reports  of  the  conference  indi- 
cate that  a  profound  impression  was  made  upon 
the  students  gathered  there  as  well  as  upon 
the  large  body  of  students  in  the  college.  The 
addresses  that  I  heard  by  Dr.  Mott  were  calcu- 
lated to  awaken  students  to  a  meaning  of  life 
that  would  remain  with  them  forever.  Mr. 
Jenkins,  whom  I  also  heard  —  if  I  may  judge 
from  the  effect  of  his  words  on  me  —  will  have 
a  share  in  the  life  of  many  of  the  students  who 
heard  his  effective  appeal  for  a  full  equipment 
for  a  man's  work.  Dr.  Hodgkins,  secretary  of 
the  Friends'  Missionary  Society  in  England, 
always  clear-cut  and  consecrated  in  what  he 
has  to  say,  was  singularly  effective  in  the  address 
that  I  heard.  The  other  speakers  it  was  not 
my  privilege  to  hear.  It  was  a  great  help  to 
the  conference  that  it  was  held  in  the  American 
College.  Travel  where  you  will  —  in  Egypt, 
Palestine  or  Syria  —  and  you  either  meet  the 


PALESTINE  AND  SYRIA  93 

graduates  of  that  college  or  you  hear  of  them  as 
effective  public  servants,  whether  they  are 
Christians  or  Mohammedans,  whether  Roman, 
Orthodox  or  Greek.  To  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Bliss  and 
to  their  faculty  and  students,  we  —  together 
with  the  Conference  of  Students  —  are  indebted 
for  many  courtesies.  The  hospitals  of  the 
college  are  really  remarkable,  the  operating 
rooms  being  equal  —  except  in  size  —  to  the 
best  in  our  great  cities  at  home. 

The  Latin  Archbishop  of  Beirut.  —  My 
letter  of  introduction  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Beirut  was  from  the  Coimtess  di  Parravicino  di 
Revel.  Under  no  circumstances  could  a  heartier 
welcome  have  been  given.  His  Grace  had 
delayed  for  three  days  his  departure  for  a  long 
visitation  in  order  to  comply  with  the  request 
of  the  countess  to  receive  me.  I  was  quite  at 
ease  when  he  said  he  had  read  Mgr.  Bonomelli's 
letter  to  the  Edinburgh  Conference  in  an  Italian 
Review  which  had  taken  the  letter  from  The 
Churchman,  and  that  he  had  heard  somewhat 
of  The  Churchman  itself.  His  mind  and  soul 
seemed  vitalized  with  the  question  of  imity  as 
the  question  of  the  future.     In  the  past,  he 


94  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

said,  when  differences  arose,  the  tendency  was 
to  fight  over  them  and  to  contend  each  for  his 
own  point  of  view,  and  it  was  this  spirit  of  con- 
tention and  strife  that  had  caused  the  divisions 
in  Christendom.  He  believed  that  the  time 
was  coming,  and  had  partly  come,  when  dif- 
ferences in  human  apprehension  and  interpreta- 
tion were  becoming  subjects  of  legitimate  liberty 
and  of  fair  and  fraternal  discussion.  He  looked 
for  a  time  when  differences  would  be  recognized 
as  difficulties  to  be  dealt  with  in  the  Family  of 
Christ  and  not  as  occasions  for  rending  the 
Church  into  separate  and  isolated  parts. 

The  Orthodox  Metropolitan  of  Beirut. 
—  I  have  already  referred  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  Metropolitan  received  Bishop  Blyth's 
letter  of  introduction.  I  had  scarcely  stated 
the  object  of  my  visit  when  the  Metropolitan 
announced  that  he  had  in  his  office  photo- 
graphs of  the  Bishop  of  New  York  and  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  which  had  been 
sent  him  because  of  an  article  he  had  written 
on  the  unity  of  the  Greek  Church  and  the 
Anglican  Communion.  I  named  Archbishop 
Davidson  to  him  and  Bishop  Potter.    He  knew 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  95 

the  sees  but  not  the  names.  In  the  course  of 
an  extended  visit,  in  which  much  ground  was 
covered,  the  Metropolitan  developed  several 
original  points  of  view.  He  has  promised  to 
write  them  out  for  me  and  I  shall  defer  further 
mention  of  the  discussion. 

The  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  —  The  trip  to 
Damascus  proved  intensely  interesting.  The 
train  climbs  on  cogs  for  twenty  miles,  rising, 
within  sight  of  Beirut,  to  a  height  of  4,880  feet. 
From  sea  level  the  run  was  through  olive  groves, 
blossoming  fruit  trees  and  a  rare  variety  of  wild 
flowers  upward  till,  leaving  the  more  tender 
foliage  behind,  at  length  the  barren  limit  was 
reached,  and  then  the  snow  line.  Two  tunnels 
carried  us  to  the  other  side  of  the  range  and 
down  toward  the  hill  plain,  2,300  feet  above  the 
sea,  between  Lebanon  and  Anti-Libanus;  with 
one  mountain  in  the  Lebanon  over  8,ocx)  feet 
and  the  other  on  the  Anti-Libanus  not  quite  so 
high.  After  crossing  this  long  plain  we  rise 
again  to  nearly  the  same  height,  about  4,600 
feet,  and  then  descend  upon  Damascus,  which  is 
over  2,300  feet  above  the  sea. 

Many  of  my  readers  will  understand  the  poetry 


96  AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

involved  in  visiting  the  Levant  for  the  first  time 
and  meeting  first  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  and 
at  the  last  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch.  I  had 
two  visits  with  His  Beatitude,  one  on  the  day  I 
arrived  and  another  on  the  following  morning, 
lasting  probably  two  hours.  And  then  came  the 
return  visit  made  on  behalf  of  the  Patriarch 
by  the  Bishop  of  the  Hauran,  the  mountain 
district  to  which  the  Bedouins  have  been  assigned, 
and  a  priest,  who  came  as  his  representative. 
The  Patriarch  and  the  Bishop  of  the  Hauran 
gave  me  a  fair  opportunity  to  photograph  them, 
and  the  Patriarch's  priest  made  an  attempt  at 
a  group  of  peasants  who  had  come  from  the 
Desert  to  caU  on  the  Patriarch,  one  of  the  most 
picturesque  groups  I  saw.  Unfortunately  the 
priest's  picture  made  no  impression  on  the  plate 
and  mine  showed  only  a  silhouette  in  black  of 
the  Patriarch  and  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Hauran. 
The  Bishop  of  the  Hauran  told  me  that  in  spite 
of  the  reputation  of  the  Bedouins  they  never 
harmed  him  or  his  priests,  and  that  although 
they  had  no  religion  whatsoever  themselves, 
they  were  the  most  truthful  people  he  had  ever 
known.  Of  the  Patriarch  himself,  I  desire 
especially  to  record  one  statement.     "I  do  not 


%^Jf 


PALESTINE  AND   SYRIA  97 

believe,"  he  said  with  great  solemnity,  "that 
there  is  any  justifiable  reason  for  the  divisions 
in  Christendom.  Fundamentally,  the  things 
that  we  believe  in  common  are  enough  to  hold 
us  together.  Of  course,"  he  continued,  "the 
Latins  give  us  a  lot  of  trouble,  but  not  enough 
to  justify  our  separation.  I  believe  it  is  the 
world  that  keeps  us  apart."  The  summing  up 
of  everything  in  that  one  word  "world"  was 
most  suggestive;  it  was  clear  that  His  Beatitude 
intended  to  concentrate  in  that  one  word  the 
evil  of  allowing  the  things  of  time  to  supersede 
the  things  of  eternity.  This  is  the  most  stirring 
and  exhaustive  statement  I  have  yet  heard.  It 
affirms  the  sufficiency  of  first  things  and  their 
right  of  way  over  all  temporal  and  human 
differences. 


CHAPTER  VI 
ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE 

X  HE  trip  from  Rome  to  Constantinople, 
through  Italy,  Austria,  Himgary,  Servia,  Bul- 
garia and  Turkey,  was  perhaps  the  most  varied 
and  picturesque  continuous  journey  I  ever  made. 
But  it  is  not  of  these  lands  or  the  characteristics 
that  make  them  separate  and  different  nations 
that  I  am  to  write.  Nor  do  I  mention  these 
imique  cities  to  describe,  contrast  or  compare 
them.  My  purpose  is  to  report  briefly  certain 
impressions  of  men  who  stand  as  representatives 
of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  —  men 
who  are  shaping  the  tendencies  that  make  for  or 
against  the  healing  of  the  wounds  that  have  so 
long  maimed  and  weakened  Christendom.  It  is 
as  impracticable  as  it  is  unnecessary  to  mention 
all  those  who  have  contributed  to  the  formation 
of  these  impressions.  I  select  some  who  are 
representative  in  themselves,  and  who  hold 
positions  that  are  representative.  I  deliberately 
connect  Rome  and  Constantinople  in  order  to 
98 


CARDINAL  CAPECELATRO,  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CAPUA 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE       99 

show  their  relation  —  a  relation  that  is  real  and 
essential.  Enough  has  been  done  to  emphasize 
their  separateness.  Their  differences  are  vast. 
Exhausting,  if  not  exhaustive,  efforts  have  been 
made  to  prove  that  these  differences  are  funda-' 
mental  and  permanent,  and  already  too  many 
efforts  have  been  made  to  justify  separation 
because  of  what  are  felt  to  be  hopeless  differences. 
In  order  to  avoid  any  possible  misunderstand- 
ing, I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  these  differ- 
ences appear  to  me  now  greater,  more  real  and, 
humanly  speaking,  more  ineradicable  than  any 
writer  or  speaker  has  ever  made  them  to  appear 
to  me  before.  Indeed,  I  do  not  beHeve  that 
the  human  mind  will  ever  adequately  measure 
the  heights  and  depths  of  these  differences  when 
treated  merely  as  differences.  They  are  self- 
renewing  engines  of  destruction  when  once  they 
are  recognized  as  legitimate  causes  for  isolation 
and  for  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  Visible  Body 
of  Christ.  But  this  is  only  true  where  life  is 
treated  from  the  negative  standpoint.  Once 
we  turn  to  a  constructive  philosophy  of  life, 
where  variety  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  essen- 
tial condition  of  unity,  where  unity  is  accepted 
as  the  constructive  principle  of  the  Church  of 


loo        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

God  and  variety  its  essential  expression,  then 
differences  are  transformed  from  destructive 
principles  into  constructive  agencies  of  life. 

The  experiences  of  the  past  few  months  would 
have  tempted  me  to  become  a  gloomy  pessimist 
had  I  not  seen  this  transforming  and  constructive 
principle  at  work  in  every  nation  and  in  every 
Church  that  I  have  visited.  The  tendency 
everywhere  is  to  build  and  not  to  destroy  —  to 
hold  together  and  not  to  separate.  In  a  deep 
and  convincing  sense  I  got  this  impression  in 
Rome  and  Constantinople,  and  I  got  it  in  the 
face  of,  and  in  spite  of,  corporate  conditions  that 
tend  to  prove  that  my  impression  is  a  false  one. 
But  shall  we  not  some  day  learn  what  history 
has  enforced  with  such  continuous  iteration 
and  re-iteration,  namely,  that  great  movements 
and  changes  come  without  observation?  Cor- 
porate action  follows  and  gives  expression  to 
great  forward  movements  and  changes;  it  does 
not  cause  them  or  produce  them.  Undoubtedly, 
if  what  I  am  about  to  report  of  actual  changes 
that  are  taking  place  were  to  be  formulated  into 
a  concordat  or  agreement  and  it  were  presented 
to  the  legislative  bodies  of  the  Churches,  it 
would  be  voted  down.     But  this  would  only 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     loi 

mean  that  the  change  has  not  yet  been  accom- 
plished —  it  would  not  mean  that  it  is  not 
coming,  that  it  is  not  actually  taking  place. 

In  a  broad  and  rugged  way,  it  may  be  said 
that  the  Christian  Church  had  come  to  mean  as 
many  different  things  as  there  were  Churches 
in  the  world  —  to  mean  something  that  tended 
to  separate  groups  of  men  from  one  another  and 
from  the  world.  The  impression  I  have  received, 
and  which  I  am  prepared  to  defend  as  a  fair  and 
true  one,  is  that  these  separated  Churches  are 
now  coming  to  mean  something  that  binds  men 
together  in  Christ  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
together  and  binding  together  the  whole  world. 
Though  not  primarily  concerned  with  proving 
a  case,  I  am  profoundly  intent  on  giving  indica- 
tions that  will  satisfy  the  average  man  that  this 
change  is  at  work.  I  have  found  no  Commun- 
ion quite  so  full  of  error  and  so  bad  in  itself  as 
others  have  described  it.  Neither  have  I  found 
any  Church  that  had  discovered  all  of  its  errors 
and  sins.  It  is  not  a  paradox,  but  only  a  state- 
ment of  complementary  and  supplementary 
facts,  to  add  that  there  are  in  every  Commun- 
ion those  who  know  the  limitations  and  sins 
of  their  own  Communion  better  than  anyone 


I02         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

outside  of  it  knows  or  can  know  them.  And 
those  who  are  seeing  and  appreciating  and  even 
emulating  the  virtues  in  other  Commimions 
are  increasing,  I  beUeve,  from  day  to  day  in 
all  communions. 

The  Roman  Cardinals.  —  It  was  my  privi- 
lege to  have  more  than  ordinary  talks  with  four 
eminent  and  representative  Cardinals  of  the 
Roman  CathoHc  Church  in  Italy,  namely  Car- 
dinals Capecelatro,  RampoUa,  Mafi&  and  the 
Secretary  of  State,  Merry  del  Val.  When  I 
called  at  the  old,  old  palace  at  Capua  on  Cardi- 
nal Capecelatro,  I  was  received  with  a  gracious 
dignity  and  warm-heartedness  that  may  be  felt 
in  his  writings  but  cannot  fully  be  appreciated 
until  one  has  come  under  the  influence  of  the 
spirit  of  the  man  who  has  been  called  the  grandest 
cardinal  of  them  all.  It  would  surely  misrepre- 
sent all  that  he  is  in  himself  and  all  that  he  prays 
and  hopes  for  as  a  result  of  his  long  life  of  eighty- 
eight  years,  if  one  did  not  assert  that  he  longs 
for  a  better  understanding  between  Christians 
and  for  more  of  the  unity  of  the  spirit.  His 
readiness  to  help  onward  in  every  way  in  his 
power,  to  the  bond  of  peace,  is  evident  in  all 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     103 

that  he  says  and  does.  The  inscription  which 
he  wrote  with  his  own  hand  on  his  photograph 
speaks  for  itself,  and  is  an  earnest  of  what  he 
hopes  for. 

In  Cardinal  Rampolla  I  found  a  masterful 
personality,  sustained  by  a  scope  of  intellect 
and  statesmanship  that  easily  justifies  the 
estimate  in  which  he  is  held  far  beyond  the 
borders  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  whether 
that  estimate  be  sympathetic  or  critical.  When 
he  realized  that  Bishop  Bonomelli's  letter  to 
the  Edinburgh  Conference  had  been  addressed 
to  me,  a  new  light  came  into  his  eyes  as  he 
exclaimed:  "Bonomelli  sent  me  a  copy  of 
his  letter,  and  I  immediately  wrote  thanking 
him  for  his  utterance." 

At  Pisa  I  was  received  by  Cardinal  Maffi,  the 
astronomer  who  is  the  president  of  the  Astro- 
nomical Society  of  the  Roman  Church  through- 
out the  world.  He  is  a  young  man,  evidently 
under  fifty,  and  occupies  an  eminent  position 
in  the  scientific  world.  He  is  a  type  of  car- 
dinal that  is  little  known  to  the  world  and 
one  that  may  yet  make  solid  contributions  to 
statesmanship  in  his  Communion. 

I  was  most  graciously  received  by  Cardinal 


I04        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Merry  del  Val  a  second  time  on  my  return  from 
Palestine  and  Syria.  As  his  Excellency  had 
shown  interest  in  the  visit  to  Russia,  I  wrote 
oflfering  to  tell  him  of  my  experiences  in  Egjpt 
and  Palestine  and  Syria.  On  receiving  an 
appointment  I  called  again,  and  after  reporting 
some  of  our  experiences  the  great  question  of  a 
better  imderstanding  between  Christians  was 
discussed  quite  frankly.  While  discussing  Bishop 
Bonomelli's  letter  and  its  effect  at  Edinburgh 
and  since,  I  mentioned  what  Dr.  Alexander 
Whyte  had  said  of  it  and  described  the  wonder- 
fully catholic  prayer  with  which  Dr.  Whyte  had 
opened  the  Conference.  At  the  mention  of 
Dr.  Whyte's  name  Cardinal  Merry  del  Val 
exclaimed  with  intense  feeling:  "Oh,  but  he 
is  a  rare  man!  His  writings  are  beautiful." 
This  was  not  the  only  occasion  on  which  I 
wondered  how  little  Christians  knew  of  each 
other.  How  many  non-Romans,  or  Romans  for 
that  matter,  have  imagined  the  Cardinal  Secre- 
tary of  State  reading  and  appreciating  the  writ- 
ings of  the  great  Scotch  Presbyterian?  Or, 
from  the  other  side,  how  many  Anglicans  and 
Protestants  are  familiar  with  the  wonderful 
writings  of  this  Scotch  statesman  and  saint. 


/^^  .     CiX^e^ .      ^i,,x.:^'yt^ 


CARDINAL   RAMPOLLA,    DEAN   OF   ST.   PETER'S,   ROME 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     105 

My  readers  will  understand  the  necessity  of 
restraint  in  speaking  of  conversations  with  great 
personages.  But  I  have  said  this  much  in  order 
to  say  more,  namely,  that  it  is  enlightening  to 
discuss  world-problems  with  statesmen  who  are 
shaping  the  destinies  of  the  largest  and  most 
powerful  Communion  in  the  world,  and  especially 
when  one  is  forced  to  recognize  an  independent 
personality  and  individuality  in  each  and  all 
of  them.  The  fact  is  unmistakable  that  they 
are  not  in  themselves  the  creatures  of  a  dead 
uniformity,  however  great  may  be  the  rigidity 
of  the  discipline  that  controls  them  or  the  sense 
of  loyalty  that  constrains  them.  I  have  known 
no  one  to  laugh  more  heartily  than  did  Cardinal 
Merry  del  Val  when  I  repeated  the  Patriarch 
of  Antioch's  words:  "There  is  no  fundamental 
justification  for  the  division  of  Christians;  the 
Latins  do  give  us  a  lot  of  trouble,  but  not  enough 
to  justify  division."  I  am  conscious  of  the  fact, 
after  talking  with  the  Cardinals  and  with  a  host 
of  others,  of  difficulties  and  differences  more  far- 
reaching  than  I  had  ever  imagined.  But  this 
depressing  fact  has  its  counterpart  in  the  other 
fact  of  a  growing  consciousness  in  all  of  them  that 
there  is  an  absolute  necessity  for  bringing   the 


io6        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

whole  impact  of  the  followers  of  Christ  to  bear 
upon  aU  the  enemies  of  righteousness  in  order 
that  the  vast  mass  of  humanity  who  have  never 
yet  been  told  the  good  news  of  their  salvation 
may  receive  the  Gospel  with  power. 

As  I  passed  north  from  Rome  on  my  way  to 
Constantinople  I  received  a  salutation  from 
Fogazzaro,  sent  only  a  few  days  before  he  died, 
recalling  my  visit  to  him  last  year  with  words 
of  encouragement  for  all  work  in  behalf  of  a 
better  imderstanding.  Curiously  enough,  I  met 
Dr.  Luzzi,  the  head  of  the  Waldensian  Seminary, 
in  Florence,  who,  out  of  his  rich  experience 
strongly  endorsed  my  impression  that  change  is 
taking  place  and  that  Christians  are  under- 
standing each  other  better,  no  matter  how 
untoward  and  contradictory  much  of  the  leg- 
islative and  corporate  action  of  historic  and 
Protestant  Churches  may  appear  to  be. 

The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  —  Soon 
after  my  arrival  in  Constantinople  I  was  received 
by  the  venerable  Patriarch.  I  had  attended  the 
Easter  service  in  his  cathedral  and  had  heard  his 
address  from  the  gallery  of  his  palace  to  him- 
dreds  of  Greek  soldiers  assembled  in  the  court, 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     107 

because  they  were  unable  to  reach  the  church 
on  account  of  the  great  crowd.  It  was  a  stir- 
ring sight  and  it  was  more  than  stirring  —  it 
was  inspiring  —  when  his  words  were  interpreted 
to  me.  Under  the  new  Constitution  Christians 
have  for  the  first  time  been  required  to  serve  in 
the  army.  They  have  done  so  cheerfully  and 
loyally,  but  they  feel  that  great  injustice,  if 
not  outrage,  is  done  them  by  denying  them 
religious  privileges.  The  denial  of  the  right  to 
cross  themselves  and  to  have  their  priests  to 
serve  them  is  a  trial  too  great  to  bear.  The 
Patriarch  was  saying  to  the  soldiers  that  he 
was  doing  everything  in  his  power  to  secure  their 
religious  privileges  and  would  continue  to  do 
so,  but  that  his  success  would  depend  upon  their 
loyal  obedience  to  the  commands  of  their 
superiors,  no  matter  what  the  sacrifice.  The 
shout  that  went  up  from  that  great  mass  of 
soldiers  was  soul-stirring  and  when,  with  the 
cross  in  his  hand,  the  venerable  Patriarch  gave 
them  his  benediction,  the  solemnity  of  the  occa- 
sion was  most  impressive. 

Only  a  few  weeks  before  I  had  read  the  Patri- 
arch of  Constantinople's  letter  in  reply  to  the 
very  severe  letter  from  the  Vatican  to  Prince 


io8        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Maximilian.  The  severity  of  the  letter  was  as 
great  against  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Churches 
as  it  was  against  the  Prince  Maximilian's  own 
position.  The  Patriarch  had  replied  in  a  very 
able  and  powerful  argument,  condemning  as 
xmfair  and  unhistorical  the  position  taken  by 
the  Vatican,  and  then  he  had  turned  to  deal  with 
Prince  Maximilian,  condemning  him  for  having 
raised  an  issue  at  a  time  so  inopportune  as  not 
only  to  defeat  the  purpose  that  he  had  in  hand, 
but  actually  to  put  whatever  of  truth  there  was 
in  his  letter  in  such  perspective  as  to  prevent 
its  being  recognized  as  truth.  The  Patriarch's 
letter  made  a  deep  impression  upon  me  and  I 
told  His  Holiness  how  I  had  felt  about  it.  It 
was  clearly  the  writing  of  a  strong  man,  but 
I  was  unprepared  to  find  so  great  a  man  as  I 
believe  him  now  to  be.  He  told  me  that  nine 
years  ago  he  had  written  a  letter  to  the  Patriarchs 
of  the  Orthodox  Eastern  Churches  urging  that 
they  should  all  combine  to  change  their  antago- 
nistic attitude  toward  both  the  Roman  Catholics 
on  the  one  side  and  Protestants  on  the  other 
into  one  more  in  accordance  with  Christ's  mind. 
He  had  not  been  encouraged  by  their  reply,  but 
he  had  not  changed  his  mind.    He  felt,  as  the 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     109 

Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  that  he  should  do 
what  was  in  his  power  to  bring  about  that 
fraternal  attitude  which  alone  represents  the 
mind  of  Christ,  Again  three  years  ago  he  had 
asked  his  Synod  to  join  him  in  the  effort  to  have 
the  "Calendar"  referred  to  a  commission  of 
scientists  chosen  from  the  universities  of  the 
world  in  order  that  that  question  of  difference 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches 
might  be  finally  settled.  It  was,  he  said,  a 
purely  scientific  question  and  not  in  any  sense 
a  theological  or  ecclesiastical  one.  His  Synod 
refused  to  adopt  his  recommendation.  He  pre- 
sented the  matter  again  this  year,  and  while 
it  was  not  refused  in  the  same  emphatic  manner 
it  was  put  off  and  no  action  was  taken.  These 
two  facts  in  themselves,  which  I  have  not  seen 
noted  and  upon  inquiry  have  not  found  known 
outside  of  Constantinople,  show  two  things: 
first,  how  little  the  Christian  Churches  know  of 
each  other,  and,  second,  how  great  a  responsible 
leader  may  become  under  the  most  adverse  cir- 
cumstances. His  Holiness  was  suffering  from 
a  severe  cold  when  I  called,  and  after  a  prolonged 
conversation,  which  grew  in  interest  with  each 
moment,  I  rose  to  go,  explaining  that  I  was 


no        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

taxing  his  strength  too  much.  With  a  vigour 
that  surprised  me,  he  motioned  me  to  be  seated 
and  asked  the  interpreter  to  say  that  "Godly 
converse  overcomes  physical  disease." 

The  Patriarch  then  discussed  at  some  length 
the  outlook  for  Christianity.  He  was  convinced 
that  there  was  coming,  and  that,  in  fact,  had 
already  begun  to  come,  a  great  turning  toward 
religion  on  the  part  of  the  common  people 
throughout  the  world.  His  impression  was 
that  many  would  turn  to  the  Protestant  religion 
because  of  its  simplicity.  He  spoke  as  a  student 
of  contemporaneous  history  and  seemingly 
without  the  sUghtest  religious  prejudice,  though 
of  course  he  could  only  have  studied  Protestant- 
ism at  a  distance,  as  he  had  never  come  in  direct 
contact  with  it  except  on  a  very  limited  scale. 
A  member  of  the  Greek  Church  told  me  that  he 
had  never  heard  of  the  divisions  of  Protestants. 
He  had  always  thought  of  them  as  a  unit.  I 
expressed  the  conviction  that  a  common  Chris- 
tianity for  the  average  man  would  need  a  greater 
and  truer  simplicity  than  Protestantism  offered 
because,  while  in  its  separate  denominations 
there  were  simple  platforms,  the  multitude  of 
denominations    presented    the    most    complex 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     iii 

forms  of  Christianity  and  that  they  were  feeling 
after,  because  they  had  experienced  the  need  of, 
a  cohesive,  catholic  and  historical  basis  upon 
which  to  unite. 

The  Patriarch  felt  that  all  work  for  a  better 
understanding  and  a  greater  unity  of  spirit 
should  be  cultivated  in  order  that  at  least  the 
historic  Churches  might  be  able  to  agree  as  to 
the  "mysteries."  There  was  more  in  his  face 
than  the  words  conveyed,  and  so  I  drew  him  out 
by  further  questioning  and  I  got  the  impression 
that  if  we  could  more  nearly  approach  to  the 
unity  of  the  spirit,  which  Christ  had  made  plain 
in  the  Incarnation,  it  would  be  possible  then  to 
see  what  were  the  primal  mysteries  or  foundations 
which  were  common  to  the  needs  of  aU  who 
sought  salvation  in  Christ,  and  that,  anchored 
on  these  foundations,  a  liberty  would  be  allowed 
and  encouraged  which  would  give  free  play 
for  individuality  and  variety  to  make  their 
full  contribution  to  a  catholic  Christianity  at 
one  with  itself  and  with  Christ  as  He  in  His 
Incarnation  had  made  at-one  God  and  man. 

The  Exarch  of  Bulgaria.  —  I  next  called 
on  the  Exarch  of  the  Bulgarian  Church  at  his 


112         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

home  in  Constantinople,  and  was  introduced  by 
Mr.  Charles  R.  Crane,  of  Chicago,  who  has  long 
known  the  Exarch  and  was  therefore  a  stimu- 
lating and  helpful  interpreter,  I  cannot  men- 
tion Mr.  Crane's  name  without  saying  that  he 
is  thoroughly  informed  on  Oriental  and  Near 
Eastern  problems,  and  is  devoting  and  conse- 
crating himself  to  increasing  his  knowledge  for 
the  purpose  of  rendering  the  best  possible  ser- 
vice to  America  and  to  our  right  relation  to 
these  countries.  I  found  the  Exarch  a  most 
interesting  and  stimulating  leader  of  his  people, 
informed  in  matters  ecclesiastical  and  as  well 
in  those  vital  matters  of  statesmanship  that 
have  made  the  Bulgarians  what  they  are. 
Separation  from  the  Patriarchate  of  Constanti- 
nople seems  to  have  been  almost  wholly  political 
and  is  only  another  evidence  of  how  accidental 
and  incidental  things  have  been  allowed  to  take 
the  place  of  the  family  idea  of  the  Church  of 
God  and  so  to  produce  division.  The  Exarch 
assured  us  that  if  those  poUtical  differences  were 
removed  there  was  nothing  in  the  Constitution 
or  the  worship  of  the  Churches  to  keep  them 
apart.  Under  the  influence  of  the  Patriarch 
and  the  Exarch  and  many  others  in  Constanti- 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     113 

nople,  of  the  cardinals  and  of  many  others  in 
Italy,  the  impression  deepened  that  it  was  the 
things  of  men  that  separated  the  East  from  the 
West,  the  East  from  the  East  and  the  West 
from  the  West.  And  yet,  over  against  the 
seemingly  impregnable  walls  of  separation,  the 
outstanding  fact  is  that  Roman,  Orthodox, 
Anglican  and  Protestant  hold  in  common  as  the 
source  of  aU  their  hope  the  things  revealed  in 
Jesus  Christ.  This  common  inheritance  must 
prevail  against  all  the  local,  racial  and  merely 
human  differences  that  are  alone  responsible 
for  the  walls  of  separation.  Too  many  Roman 
Catholics  believe  that  Roman  Catholicism  and 
even  the  abuses  of  the  Papal  system  are  pre- 
destined to  blot  out  Protestantism  and  all  non- 
Roman  systems.  But  the  same  admission  and 
the  same  knowledge  must  be  confessed  with 
regard  to  too  many  Protestants  —  who  believe 
that  Protestantism  is  predestined  to  convert 
Roman  Catholicism  and  that  its  only  hope  of 
salvation  consists  in  becoming  Protestant.  This 
is  less  true  from  both  standpoints  than  it  has 
been  in  the  past,  but  it  is  astounding,  and  noth- 
ing less,  to  find  how  many  men  holding  eminent 

positions  on  both  sides  of  this  vast  issue,  at 
8 


114        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

least  theoretically,  hold  to  that  idea  still.  I  am 
not  blind  to  all  this,  nor  do  I  believe  that  I  over- 
state it  —  but  I  am  profoundly  convinced  that 
the  leaven  of  a  true  Catholicism  is  at  work  every- 
where, and  that  those  who  believe  in  that 
leaven,  though  the  whole  world  should  rise  to 
deny  its  existence,  hold  the  future  in  their 
hands.  It  is  entirely  possible  that  there  may 
be  encyclicals  from  Rome  more  drastic  than 
in  the  past,  that  there  may  be  Protestant  posi- 
tions taken  in  response  to  these  encyclicals  more 
radical  than  in  the  past;  but  these  will  be  the 
conventional  expiring  groans  of  a  defeated  cause, 
while  the  movement  toward  the  unity  of  the 
family  of  God  will  be  steadily  winning  its  way 
and  as  steadily  extending  that  family  throughout 
the  world. 

The  World's  Student  Christian  Federa- 
tion Conference.  —  It  was  a  bold  step  on  the 
part  of  the  General  Committee  to  hold  a  Con- 
ference in  Constantinople,  I  did  not  say  a 
bold  experiment,  because  this  Committee  does 
not  experiment  —  it  goes  about  its  work  care- 
fully and  scientifically.  While  its  members 
may  act  daringly,  they  always  act  preparedly. 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     115 

There  was  practically  no  student  movement 
in  the  Near  East,  no  local  committees  to  pre- 
pare for  the  Conference  and  no  constituency 
in  the  usual  sense  to  entertain  it.  But  a  few 
miles  away  was  Robert  College,  with  its  Con- 
cession, its  traditions  and  its  noble  location  on 
the  Bosphorus.  Without  Robert  College  such 
a  Conference  could  not  have  been  held.  Dr. 
Mott  and  other  members  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee went  to  Constantinople  in  advance,  and 
when  the  day  for  the  Conference  arrived,  with 
the  aid  of  Robert  College  and  friends  in  Constan- 
tinople, the  Conference  was  held  as  if  Constanti- 
nople were  designed  for  it.  It  was  stated  that 
more  than  thirty  nations  were  represented,  and 
certainly  this  Conference  differentiated  itself 
from  any  that  has  been  held  by  its  wider  eccle- 
siastical representation  and  its  catholic  inclusion. 
The  direct  and  indirect  influence  of  the 
Orthodox  Churches  of  the  East  and  of  the  Roman 
Church  in  Italy  and  the  Levant  undoubtedly 
contributed  to  this  end.  In  the  past  the  Federa- 
tion has  been  practically  confined  in  aim  and 
in  fact  to  the  members  of  Protestant  Churches. 
The  following  resolution,  passed  at  Constanti- 
nople, marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the 


ii6        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

Federation,  and  is  another  indication  of  the 
spirit  of  unity  that  is  at  work  in  the  world: 

"The  General  Committee  puts  on  record  its 
opinion  that  it  is  desirable  that  no  student,  to 
whatever  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  he 
may  belong,  should  be  excluded  from  full  mem- 
bership in  any  National  Movement  within  the 
Federation  if  he  is  prepared  to  accept  the  basis 
of  the  Federation  or  whatever  equivalent  test 
is  approved  of  by  the  Federation.  The  Com- 
mittee requests  such  national  Movements  as 
may  be  effected  by  this  resolution  to  consider 
the  possibility  of  making  their  basis  conform 
to  this  principle." 

But  there  was  another  fact  and  another  factor 
that  contributed  to  the  larger  outlook  of  the 
Conference,  and  with  telling  effect  forced  the 
members  of  the  Conference  to  recognize  the  neces- 
sity of  including  all  Christians  and  uniting  all 
Christians  if  the  witness  of  Christ  was  to  be 
effective  to  that  vast  Mohammedan  world  at 
whose  very  door  the  Conference  was  sitting. 
The  sobering  effect  of  such  a  problem  was  tre- 
mendous. It  caused  men  to  realize  the  pov- 
erty of  their  efforts  and  the  weakness  of  their 
own  plans  and  so  to  fall  back  upon  God  with 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     117 

absolute  dependence  and  a  new  faith.  But  it 
did  more  than  this.  In  their  nearness  to  God 
I  believe  that  Conference  realized  that  the 
ecclesiastical  attitude  of  Christendom  was  not 
the  attitude  of  the  Father  who  gave  His  Son 
to  save  the  world.  One  heard  less  at  this  Con- 
ference than  perhaps  at  any  similar  gathering 
of  the  denunciatory  and  destructive  criticism, 
not  to  say  abuse,  of  the  vast  mass  of  humanity 
to  which  the  Church  of  Christ  has  been  sent 
but  has  never  really  gone  —  less,  too,  of  destruc- 
tive criticism  of  those  religions  that  have  helped 
milHons  out  of  the  very  depths  of  human  de- 
pravity but  are  totally  inadequate  to  save 
humanity  from  itself.  The  result  of  this  upon 
the  most  thoughtful  and  reverent  was,  I  think, 
to  deepen,  rather  than  to  weaken,  the  sense  of 
absolute  obligation  to  bring  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
home  to  these  inadequate  and,  beyond  a  certain 
point,  helpless  religions.  This  attitude  is  more 
Christian,  and  it  makes  Christianity  real  and 
concrete  in  a  way  that  no  merely  critical  and 
negative  attitude  toward  these  religions  could 
ever  do.  Moreover,  it  imposes  upon  Christians 
the  necessity  of  preaching  Christ  in  His  full 
integrity  as  perfect  God  and  perfect  man.    It 


ii8        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

demands  a  loyalty  to  His  Person  which  is  abso- 
lutely impossible  if  we  are  not  loyal  to  His  plan, 
namely,  the  bringing  together  the  whole  of  the 
Family  of  God  in  order  to  save  the  whole  world. 

It  will  be  clearly  and  quite  unequivocally 
understood  by  my  readers  that  these  are  my 
impressions,  and  that  no  member  of  the  Federa- 
tion is  in  the  slightest  degree  responsible  for 
what  I  write. 

If  I  feel  constrained  to  give  full  utterance  to 
the  effect  of  the  Conference  upon  me  it  is  be- 
cause in  my  judgment  the  Federation  has  already 
done  much  to  imite  students  of  many  nations 
and  many  Communions  in  a  common  effort  to 
make  Christ  known  throughout  the  world,  and 
is  destined  to  do  vastly  more  in  this  direction. 
It  therefore  deserves  the  consideration  and 
support  of  all  who  would  bring  to  bear  upon 
the  student  world  the  sense  of  corporate  and 
personal  responsibility  for  preaching  the  Gos- 
pel and  making  it  a  living,  social  force  in  the 
institutions  of  learning  everywhere.  The  student 
body  in  whole  sections  of  the  world  has  only 
begun  to  come  under  the  influence  of  these 
movements,  and  the  ablest  and  most  influential 
class  of  scholars  will  only  be  reached  when  the 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     119 

Federation  approaches  them  upon  a  thoroughly 
catholic  basis.  The  importance,  therefore,  of 
the  Resolution  which  was  passed  by  the  General 
Committee  at  Constantinople  cannot  easily 
be  overestimated. 

The  full  report  of  the  Conference  will  appear 
early  in  June.  It  would  be  out  of  place  for  me 
to  attempt  to  make  even  a  resume  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. But  there  are  several  outstanding 
impressions  that  I  must  give.  As  at  Edin- 
burgh, there  was  a  reahty  about  the  appeals 
from  China  and  Japan  that  one  rarely  finds  in 
convention  addresses.  This  is  saying  much, 
and  yet  the  incisive  statement  of  China's  need 
of  Christ  made  by  Mr.  Chengt'ing  Thomas 
Wang  of  Ningpo,  China,  and  Yale,  '10,  was  in  a 
unique  sense  powerful  and  concrete.  It  was 
not  the  cry  of  a  human  soul  for  its  own  salva- 
tion. It  was  rather  the  clear  and  unmistakable 
appeal  of  a  representative  Chinaman  for  the 
Christ  that  China  needs.  The  address  was  an 
evidence  that  China  is  awakening  to  a  conscious- 
ness of  its  need.  It  was  not  exaggerated,  it 
was  not  sentimental,  but  it  was  as  concrete  and 
fundamental  as  it  was  intense  in  its  reality.  It 
reminded  me  of  what  Vice-Admiral  Uriu,  of 


I20        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

the  Japanese  Navy,  said  in  his  address  to  a 
small  body  of  men  in  New  York  on  his  visit 
there  a  few  years  ago:  "Japan  needs  Christ. 
She  does  not  need  our  *  isms/  but  she  does  need 
Christ  in  order  that  she  may  have  that  moral 
foundation  which  alone  will  form  the  basis  of 
a  true  civilization." 

Another  address  which  will  remain  as  a  perma- 
nent contribution  was  that  of  Dr.  Patrick, 
President  of  the  American  College  for  Girls  in 
Constantinople.  To  me  it  was  a  revelation  of 
the  position  of  woman  in  the  Mohammedan 
world  and  specifically  in  Turkey;  not  a  word 
was  wasted,  and  her  paper  was  completed  before 
her  short  time  expired.  There  was  a  scientific 
treatment  of  the  matter  from  a  historical  stand- 
point which  was  only  exceeded  by  the  definite 
and  certain  grounds  which  she  gave  for  a  confi- 
dent outlook  as  a  result  of  educational  mission- 
ary work  under  the  influence  of  imited  Christian 
effort.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  paper  will  be 
printed  in  full  in  the  Report  and  that  it  may 
have  the  widest  possible  circulation.  I  am  not 
dealing  in  comparisons,  and  there  were  many  of 
the  addresses  I  could  not  hear  on  accoimt  of 
my    double    duty    in    Constantinople    and    at 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     121 

Robert  College.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say 
that  the  millennium  was  not  reached  at  this  Con- 
ference. One  heard  here  and  there  on  the  plat- 
form and  elsewhere  echoes  of  a  predestinated 
Protestantism  which  could  alone  save  the  world 
and  that  were  quite  worthy  of  a  true  fatalism — I 
will  not  say  Calvinism,  because  I  do  not  believe 
that  Calvin  was  really  controlled  by  his  theory 
of  necessity.  But  these  only  prove  what  I  have 
endeavoured  to  make  clear  as  the  rule  of  the 
Conference.  Its  mind  was  greater  and  its  faith 
was  fuller  and  richer,  and  its  vision  more 
catholic  than  had  been  true  of  any  former  Con- 
ference, judging  by  what  I  was  told  of  preceding 
Conferences. 

Members  of  the  Conference  were  invited  to 
make  addresses  in  the  institutions  of  learning 
of  the  Orthodox  Churches,  in  the  Mohammedan 
University  and  in  public  places  in  Constanti- 
nople. Everywhere  they  were  heard  with  respect 
and  evidently  with  appreciation  and  sympathy. 
Our  minister,  Mr.  Carter,  gave  a  dinner  at  the 
Embassy  to  which  he  invited  the  Grand  Vizier 
to  meet  a  few  members  of  the  Conference.  His 
Highness  came  and  was  most  cordial  and  in- 
teresting in  his  discussion   (in  English  to  our 


122        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

comfort)  of  the  Conference.  Thus  the  Govern- 
ment gave  expression  to  its  readiness  to  receive 
and  welcome  the  Conference  to  Constantinople. 
Dr.  John  R.  Mott's  closing  address,  as  Gen- 
eral Secretary  of  the  Federation,  was  easily 
the  most  constructive  and  comprehensive  state- 
ment I  have  heard  from  him,  and  in  this  I  found 
general  agreement.  It  would  not  have  been 
possible  for  Dr.  Mott  to  have  made  this  address 
without  the  experience  of  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference. It  would  have  been  equally  impossi- 
ble for  him  to  make  it  after  the  Edinburgh 
Conference  if  he  had  not  had  the  rich  experiences 
that  have  come  to  him  on  this  tour  in  meeting 
Patriarchs  of  the  Orthodox  Churches  and  com- 
ing directly  and  indirectly  in  contact  with  rep- 
resentatives of  the  Orthodox  Churches  and  the 
Roman  Church.  The  address  made  a  profound 
impression  upon  the  Conference,  and  I  am  per- 
suaded that  the  experiences  of  this  tour  and  the 
Conference  itself  have  laid  the  foundations  for 
multiplying  Dr.  Mott's  organizing  power  for 
the  future.  There  is  a  sanity,  an  open-minded- 
ness,  an  aggressiveness  constrained  by  conserva- 
tism, that  enables  him  to  keep  in  touch  with 
those  whom  he  is  leading  which  is  an  invaluable 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     123 

asset  in  the  work  that  he  is  called  to  do  with 
students  and  young  men,  and  with  those  who 
make  it  possible  for  him  to  work  on  so  large  a 
scale.  It  is  this  that  gives  more  than  a  personal 
value  to  his  summing  up  of  the  work  of  the 
Federation  in  his  closing  address.  It  was  not 
merely  his  own  utterance,  for,  while  un- 
doubtedly, he  went  far  beyond  what  the  Confer- 
ence itself  had  realized  with  regard  to  itself,  it 
was  clear  that  the  members  of  the  Conference 
accepted  his  prophetic  interpretation  of  the 
mission  of  the  Federation. 

Constantinople.  —  It  would  be  vain  to 
attempt  to  give  expression  to  the  manifold  im- 
pressions that  one  gets  of  Constantinople  on  a 
first  and  hurried  visit.  The  combination  of 
races  and  tongues  and  religions  and  colour  in 
earth  and  sky  even  under  the  depressing  influ- 
ence of  a  rainy  season  would  require  a  great 
artist  to  portray  and  a  philosopher  to  interpret. 
The  first  four  days  were  gloomy  and  rainy.  The 
mystery  deepened  and  the  wonder  of  it  all 
increased,  but  with  no  suggestion  of  the  colour 
of  the  Bosphorous,  the  city  and  the  sky,  until 
the  last  two   days  of  brilliant  sunshine  when 


124        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

everything  seemed  transformed  into  a  picture 
so  rich  and  varied  and  wonderful  that  the  glory 
of  creation  seemed  to  be  revealing  itself.  Stand- 
ing on  the  heights  of  Robert  College  one  mar- 
velled that  this  key  to  Russia,  to  Asia  and  the 
East  should  have  been  so  long  turned  against 
civilization  and  christianization  because  of  the 
contending  jealousies  of  Christian  nations.  Why 
should  Russia  have  been  bottled  up  so  long, 
and  why  should  civilization  stop  just  here,  and 
why  should  Christian  nations  misrepresent 
Christianity  by  making  this  matchless  water- 
way a  playground  of  contest  for  self-aggrandize- 
ment. As  I  stood  one  day  watching  the  endless 
number  of  ships  turn  suddenly  around  the 
great  heights  marked  by  two  great  towers  on 
the  groimds  of  Robert  College  and  disappear 
on  their  way  to  the  Black  Sea,  I  could  but 
wonder  if  the  time  was  not  coming  when  this 
would  be  the  highway  of  civilization  instead  of 
a  blockade,  and  when  the  light  of  Christianity 
would  find  the  same  expression  in  the  people 
as  is  seen  in  the  sky  and  sea  and  mountain 
range.  My  respect  for  the  Turks  grew  when  I 
thought  of  the  Young  Turk  Movement  and  the 
estabhshment  of  a  constitution  by  the  Turks 


ROME  TO  CONSTANTINOPLE     125 

themselves  when  Christian  civilizations  were 
setting  them  such  an  example  of  selfishness  and 
jealousy.  It  is  true  that  everyone  seems  to 
expect  a  reaction  from  the  Young  Turk  Move- 
ment, and  doubtless  a  reaction  will  set  in,  but 
why  should  civilized  nations  be  trading  upon  the 
uncertainty  of  Turkish  rule  and  taking  advantage 
of  their  helplessness  and  need  in  order  to  secure 
concessions  instead  of  also  helping  them  to  self- 
government  and  self-control.  Undoubtedly,  in 
spite  of  the  selfishness  of  the  nations  that  are 
contesting  for  every  concession,  the  opening  up 
of  Turkey  and  the  building  of  thoroughfares  to 
the  Farther  East  will,  in  the  end,  act  as  a  civiliz- 
ing force.  And  yet,  I  cannot  but  beHeve,  that 
the  protests  of  those  great  statesmen  of  the  past 
against  trading  in  the  passions  and  ignorance  of 
lesser  favoured  peoples,  were  voices  that  should 
have  been  heeded  and  should  be  heeded  now. 
They  will  be  heeded  when  once  Christian  peoples 
and  Christian  Churches  come  to  realize,  that 
personal  rehgion  is  worthless,  if  it  does  not  express 
itself  in  social  and  political  organization  and 
when  once  governments  are  held  to  Christian 
standards  as  individuals  have  been  held  in  the 
past. 


CHAPTER  Vn 

CLOSE  OF  OUR  TOUR  —  FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND 

vJnE  of  the  results  of  the  Conference  at  Con- 
stantinople was  the  formation  of  student  move- 
ments in  Turkey,  Greece  and  in  the  Balkan 
States,  Roumania,  Bulgaria  and  Servia.  This 
is  direct  evidence  of  the  influence  of  the  larger 
basis  adopted  by  the  Conference  and  shows 
how  quickly  these  orthodox  Churches  responded 
to  a  more  cathoHc  standard.  The  campaign 
that  followed  the  Conference  was  most  effective 
in  the  formation  of  new  movements,  and  in 
educating  those  who  took  part  in  it  for  similar 
campaigns  in  other  countries. 

Through  France  to  England.  —  I  failed 
to  reach  France  in  time  to  take  advantage  of 
plans  made  to  enable  me  to  study  more  fully 
the  conditions  in  the  French  Church  than  had 
been  possible  for  me  in  the  past.  I  was  fortu- 
nate enough,  however,  to  meet  for  a  very  short 
while  with  a  brilliant  company  of  scholars  in 
126 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         127 

Paris.  This  brief  exchange  of  thought  on  present 
conditions  only  deepened  already  formed  con- 
victions that  the  French  Church  has  a  contri- 
bution to  make  toward  the  unity  of  Christian 
Churches  which  will  prove  richer  in  culture  and 
in  sacrifice  than  the  outside  world  is  yet  prepared 
to  acknowledge,  or  even  to  desire.  Happily, 
the  plans  that  had  been  made  are  only  delayed, 
for  the  new  friends  made  in  this  brief  visit  have 
only  increased  the  assurance  of  a  more  extensive 
acquaintance  and  of  closer  study  of  actual 
conditions  in  the  future.  English-speaking 
Christians  seem  as  a  rule,  and  almost  on  the 
whole,  to  be  out  of  touch  with,  and  largely 
ignorant  of,  what  the  Christians  on  the  continent 
of  Europe  are  doing,  as  they  on  the  continent 
are  out  of  touch  with,  and  ignorant  of,  what  is 
going  on  in  our  midst.  These  impressions  have 
been  accentuated  by  my  recent  visit  to  France 
and  England,  and  hence  the  emphasis  and  signifi- 
cance given  to  them  here.  It  seems  incon- 
ceivable, for  instance,  that  in  countries  so 
intimately  related  the  religious  life  of  the  two 
nations  could  be  kept  in  such  water-tight  com- 
partments. Yet  this  seems  to  be  the  situation 
throughout  Christendom,  not  only  in  different 


128        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

nations  but  in  different  Churches  in  the  same 
nation.  The  Christian  Communions  are  living 
in  different  worlds  and  are  just  awakening  to 
a  sense  of  what  such  isolation  means. 

The  loss  to  Christendom  in  power,  in  effec- 
tiveness and  in  truthful  witness,  because  of 
this  ignorance  and  lack  of  touch,  is  truly  fearful. 
But  there  is  something  more  fearful  in  the 
fact  that  because  of  this  isolation  Christianity 
is  not  presented  as  Christianity,  but  is  misrep- 
resented as  a  divisive  and  dividing  religion. 
These  depressing  facts,  however,  only  form  a 
backgroimd  which  brings  out  in  bolder  rehef 
the  growing  discontent  with  division  which  is 
being  generated  in  every  part  of  Christendom 
and  is  finding  expression  in  terms  more  definite 
and  more  convincing  than  at  any  previous  period. 
This  discontent  is  not  confined  to  organized 
Christianity,  but  is  finding  expression  in  the 
social  and  political  hfe  of  nations. 

King  George.  —  The  King  received  Dr.  Mott 
and  me  at  Buckingham  Palace  on  Sunday,  May 
21,  the  American  Ambassador  accompanying 
and  presenting  us.  His  Majesty  asked  immedi- 
ately for  some  account  of  om*  joume3dngs.    He 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         129 

showed  keen  interest  in  the  outline  of  our  entire 
tour  and  did  not  in  the  least  curtail  the  account 
of  it.  When  Russia  and  the  Russian  Church 
were  under  discussion  he  took  the  liveliest 
interest  and  spoke  of  his  own  experiences  in 
Russia  with  the  utmost  freedom.  He  had  been 
impressed  by  the  religious  character  of  the  Rus- 
sian people,  and  that  impression  had  been 
deepened  by  what  he  saw  later  of  the  Russian 
pilgrims  in  Jerusalem.  The  simple  fact  that 
the  World  Student  Christian  Federation  had 
held  a  conference  in  Constantinople  surprised 
him  and  stimulated  him  to  ask  many  questions, 
and  our  answers  seemed  to  increase  his  interest. 
He  took  the  initiative  not  only  in  asking  ques- 
tions but  he  freely  expressed  his  own  convic- 
tion with  regard  to  the  great  question  of  a 
better  understanding  between  Churches  and 
nations. 

It  was  plain  that  His  Majesty  was  thinking 
much  on  religious  divisions  and  their  effect  on 
peoples  and  countries.  At  one  point  he  said 
that  in  looking  over  Whittaker's  Almanac  he 
had  found  that  there  were  fifty-six  different 
Churches  in  England.  It  was  clear  that  such 
a  condition  was  causing  King  George,  as  it  is 
9 


130        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

causing  the  heads  of  nations  in  other  parts  of 
the  world,  as  well  as  responsible  cabinet  ofl5cers 
and  peoples  almost  everywhere,  the  most 
anxious  and  careful  thought.  The  easy  dignity 
and  the  democratic  simplicity,  together  with  the 
eager  interest  in  the  political,  social  and  religious 
betterment  of  the  people,  which  characterized 
the  King's  reception  of  us,  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion, that  will  remain  to  stimulate  us  to  greater 
efforts. 

The  Tyranny  of  Divisions.  —  The  age  of 
the  tyrant,  spiritual  or  temporal,  has  really 
passed.  There  is  no  fear  that  such  a  tyrant 
will  arise  to  menace  the  progress  of  civilization. 
The  danger  is  in  another  direction.  Happily 
Christianity  is  so  much  wider  in  its  reach  and 
in  its  controlling  influence  than  the  sum  of  the 
sections  of  Christendom  that  nations  are  heeding 
that  danger  as  the  Communions  of  Christen- 
dom are  beginning  to  feel  constrained  to  do. 
That  danger  is  to  be  found  in  the  tyranny  of  a 
multitude  of  reUgions  and  specifically  for  the 
Christian  nations  in  a  multitude  of  sects.  In  its 
largest  sense,  men  of  business,  of  affairs,  may 
think  and  work  in  world  terms  and  on  a  world 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         131 

basis,  but  Christians  and  those  public  servants 
who  are  dependent  on  the  suffrages  of  Chris- 
tians suffer  under  the  tyranny  of  denomina- 
tional boundaries  that  cramp  the  minds,  contract 
the  hearts  and  limit  the  souls  of  men.  Thus  a 
divided  Christianity  is  not  only  a  danger  to 
Christianity  but  a  damage  to  the  possibilities 
of  the  nations  and  peoples  which  it  would  help 
and  save.  I  have  now  met  and  talked  with 
some  degree  of  frankness  with  representatives  of 
every  general  type  of  organized  Christianity, 
from  the  extremest  Protestant  to  the  extremest 
Roman  Catholic  and  Eastern  Orthodox,  and 
also  with  representatives  of  the  Governments 
under  which  they  live.  My  impression  is  clear 
and  I  think  ineradicable,  that  in  all  Communions 
there  are  those,  great  and  small,  leaders  and 
followers,  who  are  beginning  to  see  that  the 
tyranny  of  division  shuts  out  a  world-vision, 
strikes  at  the  root  of  liberty  and  tends  to  sap 
the  foundations  of  love  and  brotherhood.  If 
this  be  true,  its  truth  is  not  confined  to  these 
world  ideals,  but  applies  equally  to  the  smallest 
circle  of  human  society,  for  Christ's  religion, 
like  Christ  Himself,  is  equally  the  foundation 
and  the  satisfaction  of  every  individual  mem- 


132         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

ber  of  His  Family  as  of  the  whole  Family  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  The  profoundest  and  the 
most  inspiring  impression  I  have  in  all  that  I 
have  seen  and  heard  and  felt  is  that  the  people 
of  God  are  drawing  nearer  to  each  other  in 
Him,  and  that  in  the  exercise  of  this  first  prin- 
ciple Christianity  will,  like  its  Master,  be  self- 
perpetuating  and  recreative  in  its  power. 

The  Way  out  of  Divisions.  —  Certainly 
the  compartment  idea  of  religion  is  the  legitimate 
offspring  of  that  age-long  effort  to  find  Christian 
unity  through  definitions  of  faith.  This  effort 
seems  to  have  been  continued  since  the  time  of 
Constantine,  when  he  sought  to  secure  the  unity 
of  the  Church  through  a  definition  of  the  faith. 
He  secured  practically  unanimous  agreement  on 
the  Creed  of  Nicaea,  as  there  was  a  similar  agree- 
ment on  order,  but  the  effort  at  unity  failed 
then,  and  it  fails  now.  It  fails  because  defini- 
tions of  Faith  and  Order  have  not  in  them  the 
power  of  life,  they  are  not  the  Divine  Dynamic 
which  produces  and  is  ever  capable  of  repro- 
ducing the  unity  and  the  hfe  of  the  Church  of 
God.  These  definitions  were  made  by  and  for 
the  use  of  the  living  organism,  and  were  made  to 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         133 

serve  —  not  to  control  it.  Wherever,  therefore, 
the  effort  has  been  made  to  secure  unity  through 
Faith  and  Order,  it  has  failed  and  must  fail. 
Wherever,  as  in  the  primitive  Church,  the  living 
society  was  leavening  and  saving  the  world, 
the  Church  used  its  Faith  and  Order,  its  Sacra- 
ments and  its  power  of  prophecy,  its  open- 
mindedness  and  open-heartedness  to  receive 
the  Holy  Spirit  for  the  extension  of  that  society 
which  Our  Lord  had  instituted  to  continue  His 
work  on  earth.  The  Hfe  and  the  unity  of  this 
society  enabled  it  to  take  advantage  of  every 
means,  divine  and  human,  for  the  preservation 
of  that  life  and  that  unity  by  the  use  of  its  Ufe 
and  unity  for  the  service  of  its  Master.  Plainly 
the  Christian  world  is  coming  under  the  neces- 
sity of  a  return  to  this  primary  and  funda- 
mental principle  of  Christianity.  It  is  being 
brought  under  this  influence  by  the  missionary 
activities  of  the  present  age  and  by  the  demands 
that  are  being  made  upon  the  Church  to  give 
to  the  world  what  it  believes  that  God  in  crea- 
tion and  Christ  in  His  incarnate  love  intended 
it  to  have.  The  impatient  attitude  within  and 
without  the  Church  toward  forms  of  Faith  and 
Order  is  not  to  be  construed  as  an  opposition  to 


134         AN  EIRENIC   ITINERARY 

Faith  and  Order  in  their  proper  place :  it  is  rather 
that  men  have  come  to  a  fuller  knowledge  of 
Christ  and  His  purpose  for  the  world,  and  they 
feel  that  when  the  Church  gives  them  Faith  and 
Order  without  giving  them  the  Life  of  Christ 
and  the  opportunity  to  serve  Him,  they  are 
being  given  a  stone  when  they  are  asking  for 
the  Bread  of  Life. 

This  is  vividly  illustrated  by  the  fact  that 
those  Churches  that  repudiated  much  of  what 
is  called  Historic  Christianity  are,  in  their 
efforts  to  preach  Christ  to  the  whole  world, 
feeling  the  need  of  much  that  was  thrown  over- 
board, and  are  studying  more  carefully  and 
appreciating  more  fully  the  invaluable  work  of 
the  Ecumenical  Councils  which  so  perfectly 
defined  the  Faith.  Nothing  could  more  power- 
fully show  the  place  of  Faith  and  Order  in  the 
Church's  economy  or  make  higher  tribute  to  the 
incomparable  work  of  the  philosophical  and 
theological  work  of  the  ecumenical  period.  The 
work  of  definition  was  so  well  done  that  so  far 
it  has  been  practically  impossible  to  improve 
on  it. 

If,  therefore,  the  divided  Communions  of 
Christendom  are  to  be  brought  up  to  the  con- 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         135 

ception  contained  in  Christ's  prayer  for  His 
people,  it  seems  absolutely  necessary  that  a 
change  should  be  made,  that  practically  a 
revolution  must  be  worked  in  order  that  the 
controlling  and  fundamental  principle  of  Chris- 
tianity may  be  given  its  rightful  place  in  the 
progress  toward  a  better  understanding,  a 
truer  unity  of  spirit,  which  shall  prepare  the 
way  to  the  bond  of  peace. 

My  impression  is  that  it  was  this  universal 
turning  to  Christ's  way  and  turning  away  from 
the  effort  to  secure  unity  through  definitions  of 
Faith  and  Order  that  made  the  Edinburgh  Con- 
ference a  possibility,  and  that  increasingly 
commends  that  Conference  and  its  Continua- 
tion Committee  to  the  judgment  of  leaders  of 
every  Communion  in  Christendom.  The  Con- 
ference represented  only  a  small  part  of  the 
Christian  world,  it  was  not  essentially  great  in 
its  composition,  and  surely  no  one  would  claim 
any  phase  or  form  of  infallibility  for  its  Continu- 
ation Committee.  Yet  the  Edinburgh  basis 
and  the  Edinburgh  idea  has  touched  the  imagi- 
nation and  won  the  respect  and  sympathy  of 
Christian  leaders  in  almost  every  part  of  the 
world.     Its  very  name  is  a  most  happy  descrip- 


136        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

tion  of  its  mission  —  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee. Its  mission  is  to  this  extent  successful, 
in  that  if  another  Edinburgh  Conference  were 
to  be  held  next  year  a  larger  proportion  of  Chris- 
tians would  be  represented,  and  Communions 
which  were  not  even  expected  at  Edinburgh 
would,  imder  wise  action,  most  surely  be  repre- 
sented. The  committee  is  to  gather  information 
from  all  mission  fields  of  all  the  Churches,  and, 
as  far  as  may  be,  to  give  a  wider  circulation  to 
this  information;  it  is  to  maintain  and  to  extend 
the  atmosphere  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference 
without  in  the  slightest  degree  attempting  to 
interfere  with  the  autonomy  of  the  different 
Communions. 

The  Continuation  Committee  at  Auck- 
land Castle,  England.  —  Twenty-eight  mem- 
bers of  the  Continuation  Committee,  which 
numbers  thirty-five,  met  at  Auckland  Castle  as 
the  guests  of  Dr.  Moule,  the  Bishop  of  Durham, 
on  May  16.  Durham  Cathedral  and  Auckland 
Castle  were  in  themselves  at  once  a  tower  of 
strength  and  a  virile  admonition  to  the  Com- 
mittee. There  was  no  room  for  small  concep- 
tions or  petty  work   at  this   bulwark  of    the 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         137 

Northumbrian  dioceses.  The  hospitality,  the 
gracious  conversion  of  this  castle  home  into 
our  home  was  a  stimulus  and  a  prophecy  of  our 
duty  to  make  God's  Family  the  home  of  hu- 
manity. All  of  the  ten  American  members  of 
the  Committee  and  all  the  ten  members  of  the 
Committee  from  the  Continent  were  present. 
Of  the  British  members  eight  of  the  ten  were 
present  —  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  and  the 
Rev.  Dr.  George  Robson  were  prevented  from 
coming  by  illness.  It  was  not  practicable  for 
the  other  five  members  in  the  far-distant  fields 
to  be  present.  So  large  an  attendance  is  a 
suflScient  evidence  of  the  importance  which  the 
members  of  the  Committee  attach  to  their 
trust.  The  Committee  sat  for  four  and  a  half 
days,  meeting  each  morning,  afternoon  and 
evening.  In  addition  to  morning  and  evening 
prayers  in  the  chapel  of  the  castle,  a  period  at 
the  close  of  the  morning  session  was  set  aside, 
as  at  Edinburgh,  for  intercession.  Nine  special 
committees  which  had  been  appointed  at  the 
meeting  held  immediately  after  the  Conference 
at  Edinburgh  reported,  and  these  reports  were 
examined  and  discussed  with  the  view  to  testing 
their  efficiency  and  the  lines  along  which  they 


138        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

should  carry  forward  their  work.  Special  com- 
mittees on  Survey  and  Occupation,  Education, 
Christian  Literature,  Training-schools  for  Mis- 
sionaries, and  Uniformity  in  Statistics  were 
continued  in  order  that  their  investigations  might 
be  carried  further,  while  several  new  special 
Committees  were  appointed,  viz.,  on  Co-opera- 
tion and  the  Promotion  of  Unity,  the  Church 
and  the  Mission  Field,  Medical  Missionary 
Work,  the  Mohammedan  Problem,  and  for  the 
preparation  of  a  statement  of  recognized  princi- 
ples underlying  the  relations  of  missions  and 
Governments.  A  definite  set  of  rules  was  pre- 
pared to  govern  the  action  of  the  Special  Com- 
mittees with  a  view  to  promoting  the  efficiency 
of  their  work,  preventing  overlapping  and  de- 
termining their  relations  with  the  Continuation 
Committee. 

Undoubtedly  the  two  most  important  actions 
taken  by  the  Committee  were  the  decision  to 
issue  an  International  Review  of  Missions  with 
Mr.  J.  H.  Oldham,  the  secretary,  as  Editor, 
with  an  International  Advisory  Editorial  Board, 
and  the  further  decision  to  urge  Dr.  John  R. 
Mott,  the  chairman  of  the  Committee,  to  give 
a  large  portion  of  his  time  in  an  honorary  capacity 


FRANCE  AND   ENGLAND         139 

to  putting  the  aims,  methods  and  work  of  the 
Continuation  Committee  before  Mission  Boards 
of  Europe  and  America  and  before  missionaries 
and  leaders  of  the  Church  in  the  mission  fields. 
This  will  necessarily  involve  extensive  visiting 
in  the  mission  field  for  the  purpose  of  acquaint- 
ing missionaries  and  leaders  with  the  work  and 
plans  of  the  Continuation  Committee  and  of 
studying  how  missionary  bodies  on  the  field 
and  the  Continuation  Committee  may  be 
brought  into  the  most  mutually  helpful  rela- 
tions. Such  visits  will  also  be  of  the  greatest 
assistance  to  the  investigation  of  the  Special 
Committees. 

The  responsibility  for  these  decisions  was 
thoroughly  and  frankly  faced  and  discussed. 
The  dangers  and  the  advantages  were  presented 
from  almost  every  standpoint.  The  judgment 
of  the  Committee  was  overwhelming  that  both 
steps  were  necessary  if  the  atmosphere  and  the 
spirit  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  was  to  be 
continued  and  extended  to  the  widest  possible 
limit. 

The  increased  work  demanded  of  Dr.  Mott  by 
the  unanimous  will  of  the  Committee  is  one 
for  which  he  has  had  extraordinary  preparation 


140         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

and  training.  For  twenty-three  years  he  has 
been  steadily  developing  —  in  Student  Christian 
movements,  in  missionary  enterprises  —  the 
World  Idea  as  the  only  goal  that  could  satisfy 
the  demands  of  membership  in  the  Christian 
Church.  His  powers  of  organization  and  his 
capacity  to  comprehend  in  these  organizations 
almost  every  type  of  mind  and  character  mark 
him  out  as  one  capable  of  bringing  the  Continu- 
ation Committee  in  touch  with  missionaries 
and  missionary  work  in  every  part  of  the  world; 
his  open-mindedness  has  enabled  him  to  come 
in  touch  on  this  tour  with  the  Orthodox  Churches 
of  the  East,  not  merely  in  a  friendly  and  fraternal 
way,  but  with  vast  profit  to  his  own  widening 
vision,  and  has  increased  his  desire  for  still 
wider  knowledge  of  the  Churches  of  Christen- 
dom in  order  that  he  may  perform  his  part  in 
bringing  about  a  better  understanding  and  closer 
co-operation,  in  order  to  promote  the  unity  of 
Christendom. 

The  Review  will  serve  as  the  means  of  com- 
munication between  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee and  the  increasingly  large  body  of  leaders 
throughout  the  Christian  world  who  are  inter- 
ested in  its  work.    Its  pages  will  also  be  opened 


FRANCE  AND   ENGLAND         141 

for  the  free  discussion  of  important  missionary 
questions.  It  will  include  a  bibliography  of  all 
missionary  books  and  pamphlets  in  all  languages 
and  also  of  important  articles  on  missions  in 
current  periodical  literature.  The  Review  will 
be  published  quarterly,  and  the  subscription 
price  will  be  6s.  net,  post  free.  The  first  num- 
ber will  be  issued  at  the  beginning  of  191 2.  As 
secretary  of  the  International  Committee  that 
planned  the  Edinburgh  Conference,  as  one 
intimately  associated  with  the  work  of  all  eight 
commissions  and  as  secretary  of  the  Conference 
itself  and  of  the  Continuation  Committee,  Mr. 
Oldham  was  the  unanimous  choice  of  the  Com- 
mittee as  the  Editor  of  the  Review  —  a  task 
for  which  all  of  his  association  with  the  work 
of  the  Conference  had  so  thoroughly  equipped 
him. 

The  Continuation  Committee  in  these  deci- 
sions, as  well  as  in  the  appointment  of  special 
committees,  has,  I  believe,  been  true  to  its 
commission  to  continue  the  atmosphere  of  the 
Edinburgh  Conference.  The  Chairman  is  to 
aid  the  Committee  in  coming  in  touch  and 
sympathy  with  all  efforts  to  preach  the  Christ 
of  God  and  to  extend  His   Kingdom    to   the 


142         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

utmost  parts  of  the  world.  The  Review  is  to 
report  the  work  of  the  entire  mission  field  — 
not  a  part  of  it,  but  all  of  it.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  sit  through  these  sessions  of  the  Contin- 
uation Committee  without  feeling  one's  vision 
expanded  and  his  consciousness  of  the  necessity 
for  the  unity  of  the  Church  of  God  deepening 
into  a  sacred  and  permanent  conviction  and 
obligation. 

The  Committee  hved  up  to  its  commission  from 
the  Edinburgh  Conference  and  recognized  that 
it  was  to  serve  and  not  to  dictate  to,  or  attempt 
to  control,  the  Communions  it  was  appointed 
to  serve.  In  any  survey  of  the  Christian  world 
as  it  is  to-day  the  basis  and  aim  of  the  Edinburgh 
Conference  and  the  Continuation  Committee 
seem  to  offer  the  way  that  leads  steadily  and 
surely  to  a  better  understanding,  to  a  truer 
unity  of  the  spirit  and  to  those  acts  of  co-opera- 
tion which  can  only  end  in  the  bond  of  peace, 
for  which  increasing  milUons  of  Christians  are 
praying  and  who  will  increasingly  endeavour  to 
work,  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  end  for  which 
they  pray. 

The  Continuation  Committee  is  to  meet  in 
America  in  September,  191 2. 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         143 

Last  Days  in  England.  —  The  Continua- 
tion Committee  felt  itself  weakened  by  the 
absence  of  Dr.  Talbot,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
and  of  Dr.  Robson,  of  Edinburgh,  who  had  been 
associated  with  the  Edinburgh  Conference  from 
the  first  meeting  of  the  International  Committee 
at  Oxford.  Both  had  been  sources  of  strength 
and  from  quite  different  standpoints:  Dr. 
Robson,  speaking  with  authority  for  Scotch 
Presbyterianism  and  the  Bishop  of  Winchester 
in  the  fullest  and  deepest  sense  representing  the 
English  Church  and  its  position.  Dr.  Mott  and 
I  were  unwilling  to  leave  England  without  seeing 
Bishop  Talbot,  who  was  at  Harrow  confined 
to  his  bed  with  some  trouble  of  the  knee.  We 
visited  him  on  the  Sunday  after  the  conference. 
He  had  heard  of  the  conference  from  Mrs. 
Creighton,  and  when  we  had  gone  over  quite 
fully  the  action  of  the  Committee,  the  bishop 
expressed  himself  as  in  the  fullest  accord  with 
what  had  been  done.  He  had  been  with  us  in 
his  prayers  and  in  his  thoughts,  he  said.  Then, 
with  all  the  strength  of  his  great  soul,  he  de- 
clared his  faith  in  the  work  of  the  Committee 
and  the  service  it  was  capable  of  rendering,  pro- 
vided  only   that  it  kept  to   the   patient  yet 


144        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

progressive  work  of  creating  an  atmosphere  of 
fraternity  such  as  had  characterized  the  Edin- 
burgh Conference  itself.  He  was  in  the  most 
complete  accord  with  the  mind  of  the  Committee 
in  the  conviction  that  there  was  hope  for  great 
things  if  the  Edinburgh  Conference  and  its  basis 
were  adhered  to  loyally,  and  equally  that  there 
was  every  danger  to  be  expected  in  any  depart- 
ure into  the  domain  of  Faith  and  Order,  which 
by  agreement  had  been  eliminated  from  the 
work  of  the  Edinburgh  Conference.  These  points 
of  view  were  unqualifiedly  sustained  and  en- 
dorsed by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  at 
long  talks  which  he  had  with  Dr.  Mott  and  me 
at  different  times. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  at  3:15,  we  called  at 
the  Foreign  Office  by  invitation  of  Sir  Edward 
Grey,  who  had  expressed  a  desire  to  have  a 
report  of  our  experiences.  For  about  an  hour 
Sir  Edward  Grey  entered  searchingly  and  inter- 
estedly into  the  most  significant  events  of  our 
tour  and  dwelt  especially  upon  the  holding  of 
the  Federation  Conference  in  Constantinople. 
It  seemed  impossible  that  the  Foreign  Secretary 
could  at  a  time  of  such  pressure  receive  us,  but 
nowhere  did  we  find  a  more  keenly  analytic  and 


FRANCE  AND  ENGLAND         145 

yet  sympathetic  treatment  of  the  causes  we 
had  in  hand  than  on  that  afternoon.  Sir 
Edward  Grey  expressed  the  opinion  I  had  heard 
in  Russia,  Italy  and  throughout  the  Levant,  that 
America  had  a  unique  opportunity  and  there- 
fore a  grave  responsibihty  in  that  it  could  enter 
into  great  religious  and  humanitarian  enterprises 
without  being  suspected  of  any  ulterior  political 
motive.  Nothing  in  our  entire  experience  has 
moved  me  more  deeply  than  the  universal 
expectation  that  the  solution  of  certain  world 
problems  must  and  ought  to  begin  in  America. 
The  matter  was  too  serious  and  too  real  on  the 
part  of  those  who  spoke  to  give  place  even  for  a 
moment  to  national  pride.  In  leaving  we  said 
to  Sir  Edward  Grey  that  the  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, growing  out  of  such  expectations  from 
the  position  in  which  we  found  ourselves  in 
America,  would  send  us  home  with  a  determi- 
nation to  work  harder  than  we  had  ever  done 
to  perform  our  part  in  the  world  problems 
demanding  solution. 

At  5:30  on  the  same  afternoon  I  was  the 
speaker  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  London 
Diocesan  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  under  the 
presidency    of    the    Bishop    of    London.    The 


146        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

invitation  had  come  to  me  in  Rome  in  April  and 
with  it  came  the  suggestion  that  Bishop  Ingram 
desired  to  make  that  Board  the  greatest  power 
for  foreign  missions  in  his  diocese.  The  Bishop 
of  Stepney  informed  me  on  arrival  that  the 
Board  was  composed  of  a  hundred  selected  men, 
clergy  and  laity.  The  subject  was,  "How  to 
Interest  Men  in  Foreign  Missions."  What  I 
had  to  say  was  based  on  the  interdenominational 
principle  in  order  to  interest  men.  I  said  that 
men  of  every  Communion  in  Christendom 
could  work  together  in  any  worldly  work, 
but  could  not  unite  in  the  supreme  service  of  life 
for  God  and  His  purpose  for  the  world;  and  that 
it  was  the  interdenominational  element  that 
gave  to  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement  its 
power.  I  was  questioned  freely  and  after  the 
discussion  was  closed  the  Bishop  of  London  made 
a  telling  appeal  for  the  estabhshment  of  laymen's 
organizations  on  the  interdenominational  basis. 
The  missionary  societies,  S.  P.  G.,  S.  P.  C.  K., 
and  C.  M.  S.  were  represented  and  the  response 
to  Bishop  Ingram's  appeal  seemed  unanimous. 
It  was  long  and  loudly  applauded. 

On  Tuesday,  May  23,  our  party,  which  sailed 
from  New  York  on  January  18,  together  with 


i 


FRANCE  AND   ENGLAND        147 

Bishop  Lambuth,  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
Church,  and  Dr.  Brown,  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board,  members  of  the  Continuation  Commit- 
tee, and  Mr.  Richard  Morse,  sailed  on  the 
R.  M.  S.  "Caronia,"  which  brought  us  to 
New  York,  on  Wednesday,  May  31. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

CONCLUSIONS 

Ml  he  transformation  in  the  attitude  of  Chris- 
tendom toward  unity  is  assuming  the  pro- 
portions of  a  historic  revolution.  It  will  be 
interesting  to  examine  some  of  its  aspects  from 
the  positive  side.  There  is  a  possibility  of 
agreement  on  positive  lines,  but  there  is  no  pos- 
sibility of  agreement  on  negative  lines.  A  great 
teacher  was  once  brusquely  interrupted  while 
lecturing  on  Heaven  by  a  student,  who  asked: 
"But,  doctor,  what  about  Hell?"  Quick  as 
lightning  came  the  reply  and  with  an  indigna- 
tion never  before  shown,  "I  am  not  here  to 
teach  you  the  way  to  Hell."  Noting  the  crush- 
ing effect  upon  the  student,  the  teacher  relented 
and  said,  "But  I  will  tell  you  something  about 
Hell.  If  you  miss  Heaven,  you  will  have  all  the 
Hell  you  need."  The  way  to  unity  leads  along 
positive  lines.  It  is  along  these  lines  that  I 
shall  speak,  it  being  perfectly  understood  that 
negatives  are  not  ignored,  but  only  left  in  the 
background. 

148 


CONCLUSIONS  149 

Protestant  Christianity  based  its  right  to 
exist  on  the  right  to  separate  in  order  that  the 
pure  Gospel  might  be  preached.  The  plan  of 
division  was  deliberately  accepted  as  a  condition 
of  finding  and  keeping  the  truth.  With  varying 
conceptions  of  truth,  increasing  divisions  fol- 
lowed. Division  became  in  a  sense  a  means  to 
truth,  a  method  of  meeting  the  demands  of 
conscience.  The  right  of  separation  became 
inwrought  in  the  life  of  the  Protestant  Churches, 
but  it  did  not  stop  with  them.  Their  claim  of 
the  right  to  protest  against  error,  and  to  set  up 
a  new  church  for  the  preservation  of  the  truth 
was,  from  a  wholly  different  standpoint,  asserted 
by  those  who  forced  them  out  of  communion, 
in  order  to  protect  and  preserve  the  truth.  The 
right  to  protect  truth  by  driving  out  and  the 
right  to  seek  truth  by  going  out  combined  to 
write  division  in  large  letters  over  the  whole 
face  of  Christendom. 

The  passion  of  Protestant  Christianity  for 
the  truth  and  for  the  liberty  to  tell  the  truth 
created  that  intensity  of  conscience,  that  driving 
force  which,  accepting  full  responsibility  for  pro- 
claiming the  Gospel  to  the  whole  world,  has 
resulted  in  a  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  over 


ISO        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

territory  unmatched  in  the  history  of  Chris- 
tianity. Within  a  few  centuries  and  in  spite  of 
multitudinous  divisions,  Protestant  Christians 
have  grown  to  150,000,000,  and  their  missionary 
enterprise,  with  an  annual  outlay  of  about  $20,- 
000,000,  is  a  wonder  in  history.  Into  great 
heathen  lands  the  many  Protestant  Churches 
have  sent  missionaries  until  they  are  stunned 
alike  by  the  magnitude  of  the  sum  of  their 
operations  and  the  impotence  of  a  multitude  of 
isolated  proclamations  of  the  Gospel.  The 
damage  of  division,  of  the  conflict  of  witnesses, 
of  the  helplessness  of  a  divided  army  against 
age-long  religions  and  endless  masses  of  ignorance 
is  forcing  consideration.  The  awakening  has 
been  as  sudden  as  it  is  overwhelming  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  something  more  than  a  proclamation 
of  the  Gospel  needed,  something  more  than  a 
personal  relationship  with  God  needed,  and  that 
some  corporate  unit  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
a  successful  witness  to  Christ  and  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  His  Church,  not  as  a  foreign  mis- 
sion but  as  an  indigenous  home  of  the  people  to 
whom  they  have  proclaimed  the  Gospel  of  life. 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  the  Protestant  world 
is  feeling  after  that  which  was  lost  by  division. 


CONCLUSIONS  151 

Perhaps  nowhere  in  the  world  is  the  need  for 
unity  more  keenly  felt  than  by  the  Churches 
of  Protestantism  because  in  a  sense  they  have 
created  the  need  for  themselves  by  a  passionate 
obedience  to  a  great  part  of  the  great  commission. 
Slowly  but  steadily  division  is  being  discredited. 
The  apologists  for  division  are  disappearing 
from  religious  literature  and  the  advocates  of 
unity  are  taking  their  place.  Any  vision  of 
unity  that  leaves  out  the  truth  and  power  that 
have  made  the  progress  of  Protestantism  what 
it  is,  is  a  vision  that  leayes  out  God  as  the  sole 
source  of  all  good  and  all  truth.  In  the  great 
synthesis  the  truth  and  the  whole  truth  of  Prot- 
estantism will  be  conserved  and  built  into  and 
made  a  part  of  the  reunited  Family  of  God. 

Roman  Catholic  Christianity  based  its  right 
to  exist  on  organic  union  and  communion  with 
Christ  and  His  Apostles  and  on  an  exclusive 
commission  and  therefore  exclusive  jurisdiction 
from  Christ.  Under  the  constraining  power  of 
this  claim  the  Roman  Church  has  developed  a 
worldwide  and  united  communion,  numbering 
about  250,000,000.  It  has  evolved  a  centralized 
administration  with  its  strength  and  weaknesses. 
It  is  probably  the  most  thoroughly  developed 


152         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

and  in  certain  ways  the  most  powerful  organiza- 
tion in  the  world.  It  is  strong  where  Protestant- 
ism is  weak;  it  is  weakest  where  Protestantism 
is  strongest.  Taking  the  world  as  it  is,  with  its 
classes  and  its  masses,  its  membership  is  prob- 
ably the  most  representative  among  the  Churches 
of  Christendom.  It  has  not  only  developed  the 
capacity  but  it  actually  ministers  to  every  grade 
of  human  society,  human  intelligence,  language 
and  political  form  of  government.  In  spite  of 
the  tyrannical  form  of  much  of  its  rigid  disci- 
pline, the  Church  hoicks  a  greater  variety  of 
people  in  kind  and  degree,  with  a  greater 
diversity  in  thought  and  action  than  any  other 
communion.  Theoretically  holding  absolute 
authority  and  power  over  its  members  and  at 
times  using  in  practice  what  is  held  in  theory, 
it  has  shown  its  capacity  to  adjust  itself  to  the 
most  adverse  conditions,  as  is  seen  to-day  in  the 
fact  that  while  Nations  are  steadily  resisting 
and  throwing  off  the  power  of  Rome,  there  is  a 
great  body  within  the  Roman  Church  not  only 
preparing  for  but  longing  for  the  time  when  the 
Church  will  be  thrown  wholly  upon  its  spiritual 
resources  and  become  a  representative  and  self- 
governing  system.    Through  all  its  changes  and 


CONCLUSIONS  153 

chances  and  dire  mistakes  it  is  the  one  Church 
in  Christendom  that  has  maintained  throughout 
that  Unity  and  Universality  are  essential  notes 
and  absolute  conditions  of  the  Christian  Church. 

In  1905  when  Pope  Pius  X  had  read  the  edi- 
torials reprinted  at  the  end  of  this  volume,  I 
received  with  his  gracious  message  of  apprecia- 
tion an  intimation  that  his  Holiness  had  sug- 
gested that  Rome  would  always  be  ready  in  the 
interest  of  Unity  to  yield  anything  except 
essential  dogma.  When  it  was  intimated  that 
the  crux  of  the  whole  question  would  be,  What 
is  essential  dogma?  the  Pope's  reply  showed 
that  it  would  depend  upon  the  attitude  of  those 
seeking  unity.  If  the  attitude  was  one  of  con- 
troversy, of  conflict,  of  war,  then  every  defense, 
every  out-post  intended  to  protect  dogma  must 
be  regarded  as  essential;  but  if  the  attitude  was 
one  of  friendliness,  if  the  spirit  of  unity  prevailed, 
then  the  fundamental  mysteries  of  the  Faith 
would  be  found  to  be  simple  and  few.  Could  the 
way  to  a  better  understanding  be  more  simply 
or  more  fundamentally  stated? 

The  Holy  Orthodox  Eastern  Churches  base 
their  right  to  exist  on  their  unimpaired  Apostolic 
Order  and  an  unchanged  and  unchanging  Creed, 


154        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

older  and  more  catholic  than  the  Creeds  of 
Western  Christendom.  Their  capacity  to  hold 
the  loyal  allegiance  of  their  followers,  even  in 
those  countries  where  active  discipleship  is  at 
a  minimum,  is  unique,  while  the  Holy  Orthodox 
Russian  Church's  capacity  to  preserve  its  exist- 
ence as  the  National  Church  with  practically 
the  whole  people  of  the  Russias  putting  into 
practice  to  the  extent  of  their  limited  capacity 
their  membership  in  the  National  Church,  is 
probably  without  a  parallel  in  history.  The 
latent  power  of  the  laity  in  Russia  is  incalculable 
because  of  the  universal  participation  of  the 
people  in  the  work  of  the  Church.  But  it  is 
something  more  than  latent.  There  are  leaders 
who  see  in  the  recovery  of  the  place  of  the  laity 
in  the  Church  a  way  to  a  better  understanding 
and  a  closer  co-operation  with  other  churches. 
Again  an  element  that  is  full  of  promise  is  the 
family  character  of  worship,  the  almost  childlike 
participation  as  if  the  Church  only  gathered  the 
community  as  a  family  for  the  combined  wor- 
ship of  God.  Many  of  those  things  which  are 
regarded  from  the  outside  as  most  superstitious 
are  in  fact  the  result  of  the  use  of  necessary 
symbols  through  which  alone  the  ignorant  may 


CONCLUSIONS  155 

be  reached,  and  yet  without  the  loss  of  the 
artistic  element  so  necessary  to  suggestion  in 
worship. 

Perhaps  no  Communion  is  less  known  in 
the  larger  part  of  the  world  and  in  a  way 
more  left  out  of  account  than  the  Russian 
Church.  Yet  the  Russian  Church  has  accom- 
plished one  thing  that  has  proved  impossible 
to  every  other.  Islam  is  the  staggering  prob- 
lem of  the  Churches.  Practically  nothing  has 
been  done  in  a  corporate  way,  and  certainly  no 
great  corporate  effects  have  been  produced  upon 
Islam.  The  Roman  Church  almost  avoids  it, 
the  Protestant  Churches  are  so  dazed  by  it  and 
yet  so  constrained  to  work  at  it  that  their  pro- 
gramme is  practically  one  of  tearing  down  in 
order  to  build  up.  The  work  of  the  Dutch 
missionaries  in  the  Island  of  Java  is  the 
encouraging  exception.  The  Anglican  Com- 
munion does  both.  It  avoids  here  and  it  at- 
tempts destructive  methods  there.  But  I 
have  been  informed  by  others  as  well  as  by 
officials  of  the  Russian  Church  that  that  Church 
has  developed  a  corporate  mission  policy,  a 
united  mass  movement  that  has  proved  a  corpo- 
rate success.    It  has  developed  a  special  litera- 


156        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

ture,  a  special  type  of  missionary  and  a  college 
for  special  training  that  have  resulted  in  the 
conversion  of  thousands  of  Mohammedans  who 
have  been  assimilated  as  members  of  the  Rus- 
sian Church.  This  fact  in  itself  gives  to  the 
Russian  Church  a  position  of  leadership  in  this 
incalculably  difficult  problem. 

Few  outside  of  Russia  and  those  immediately 
associated  with  her  know  the  enormous  strides 
she  has  been  making  in  modern  times  and  against 
what  enormous  odds  she  has  to  contend.  With 
less  than  25,000,000  able  to  read  and  write  out 
of  a  population  of  162,000,000,  there  are  admin- 
istrative difficulties  which  are  hard  to  imag- 
ine and  impossible  to  parallel  save  in  some 
provinces  of  the  British  Empire.  The  isolation 
of  Russia  is  not  of  her  own  seeking,  but  Euro- 
pean Nations  have  denied  her  access  to  the 
Mediterranean  and  must  carry  the  responsibility 
of  this  crime  of  the  past  as  well  as  its  continu- 
ance in  the  present  and  for  the  future.  Russia 
desires  a  better  understanding  with  the  world 
that  can  only  come  with  more  complete  inter- 
change of  commerce  and  all  that  goes  to  make 
civilization.  There  is  a  revival  of  missionary 
responsibility    and    activity    in    the    Russian 


CONCLUSIONS  157 

Church  and  with  it  there  is  coming  into  the 
Hterature  and  the  heart  of  Russia  a  living 
interest  in  unity. 

I  have  been  greatly  impressed  in  my  associa- 
tion with  Archbishop  Platon,  the  Russian  Arch- 
bishop for  North  America,  to  note  his  frank 
desire  to  understand  our  people  and  to  be  under- 
stood by  them.  Nothing  has  struck  me  more 
favourably  than  his  courageous  frankness.  He 
fully  realizes  and  has  said  in  his  lectures  in 
Philadelphia  and  elsewhere  that  there  are 
differences  which  humanly  speaking  are  insur- 
moimtable,  but  nevertheless  he  persists  in  the 
conviction  that  they  are  not  impossible  with 
God.  I  do  not  feel  that  I  am  free  to  keep 
back  the  following  extracts  from  a  letter,  dated 
July  31,  191 1,  New  York,  which  His  Grace  has 
addressed  to  me.  The  whole  letter  would  make 
his  statements  even  stronger,  but  some  parts 
omitted  are  too  personal  for  publication. 

"I  was  highly  gratified,"  he  writes,  "by 
reading  all  that  you  have  written  about  my 
native  land  and  my  native  Holy  Church.  And 
what  pleases  me  most  is  that  through  your  notes 
the  Americans  will  become  acquainted  with  the 
actual   orthodox   reality,   in   regard   to   which 


iS8        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

the  American  press  publishes  not  infrequently 
nonsensical  statements,  which  horrify  and  make 
one  feel  indignant.  It  is  time,  high  time,  for 
us  Americans  and  Russians  to  become  closer 
and  more  earnestly  acquainted  with  each  other. 
Nothing  but  good  will  emanate  from  this  ac- 
quaintanceship. ...  It  is  not  without  reason, 
as  you  say,  that  the  religiousness  of  the  Russian 
people  and  its  orthodoxy  have  interested  also 
the  English  King,  the  head  of  many  millions  of 
noble  people,  who  sends  this  coming  Fall  to  us, 
in  Russia,  a  large  deputation  of  his  representa- 
tives, with,  they  say,  the  Archbishop  of  York 
at  the  head.  Glory  and  thanks  to  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  Who,  it  seems,  in  our  days 
of  egotism  and  destruction,  commences  to  lead 
Christian  peoples  towards  mutual  understand- 
ing, harmony,  friendship,  charity  and  union  in 
faith  in  Him.  You  are  one  of  the  most  energetic 
pioneers  in  this  cause.  You  are  endeavouring  to 
present  our  Church  in  the  eyes  of  the  whole 
world  in  its  mighty  force  and  vitality.  ...  I 
will  say  that  by  this  way  of  action  you  in  the 
most  tangible  way  solve  the  question  which  was 
offered  to  me  at  the  meeting  in  Philadelphia  as 
the  topic  for  my  second  lecture;    you  correctly 


CONCLUSIONS  159 

point  out  that  position  which  may  be  occupied 
by  laymen  in  the  destinies  of  the  Church  of 
God." 

The  Churches  comprising  what  is  called  the 
Anglican  Communion  base  their  right  to  exist  on 
the  historic  continuity  of  Apostolic  Order.  They 
have  endeavoured  to  avoid  the  centralizing  ten- 
dencies of  Rome  and  the  disintegrating  processes 
of  Protestantism.  In  this  policy  of  avoidance 
they  have  almost  of  necessity  developed  an 
aristocratic  constituency  whose  membership 
exercises  an  influence  out  of  all  proportion  to 
its  numbers.  They  have  escaped  the  extrava- 
gances of  both  extremes  only  to  realize  that 
they  have  lost  touch  with  the  vast  masses  of 
hvunanity  whose  need  is  as  vast  as  their 
helplessness,  and  whose  claims  are  justified  in 
common  with  all  humanity  in  Christ  and  His 
salvation.  But  if  in  the  past  this  eclectic 
policy  has  tended  to  exclusion  in  two  directions, 
the  present  generation  has  seen  a  transformation 
taking  place  which  has  enabled  the  Anglican 
Communion  to  arrest  the  attention  of  the  world 
by  its  proclamations  in  behalf  of  unity.  These 
proclamations  have  at  last  aroused  Anglicans 
themselves  to  realize  that  a  policy  of  exclusion 


i6o        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

is  a  policy  of  failure,  but  that  they  possess  a 
point  of  vantage  in  opportunities,  which,  if 
seized  as  a  reconciling  instead  of  merely  a  self- 
preserving  mission,  will  enable  them  to  make  a 
unique  contribution  to  the  Unity  of  Christen- 
dom. As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Churches  of  the 
Anglican  Communion  have  already  begun  to 
make  this  contribution.  They  are  creating  an 
atmosphere  of  hospitality  to  truth  in  all  direc- 
tions. In  proportion  to  their  numbers,  about 
30,000,000  of  Anglicans  are  reported,  they  are 
doing  an  immense  missionary  work  in  quality 
especially,  and,  in  great  measure,  in  quantity. 
There  is  a  positive,  constructive,  corporate 
character  to  the  work  of  the  Churches  of  the 
Anglican  Communion  at  home  and  in  the  Mis- 
sion Field  that  is  an  incalculable  asset,  but  which 
will  not  fully  express  itself  or  be  realized  in  these 
churches  themselves  and  by  others  until  the 
negative  and  defensive  character  of  Christianity 
is  relegated  to  its  proper  sphere  in  all  parts  of 
Christendom.  It  is  not  too  much  to  claim  that 
the  genius  and  character  of  the  Anglican  Com- 
munion commands  respect  and  confidence  and, 
when  allowed  to  do  so,  wins  affection  from  both 
extremes.     What  an  inspiring  opportunity  such 


CONCLUSIONS  i6i 

a  Communion  has  and  what  a  mission  it  is  called 
to  perform! 

These  general  statements  are  necessarily 
inadequate.  They  really  understate  the  posi- 
tive virtues  of  the  different  but  component  parts 
of  the  Christian  Church.  In  spite  of  my  in- 
sistence that  I  have  not  ignored  negatives,  but 
only  left  them  in  the  background,  there  will  be, 
of  necessity,  those  in  all  coromunions  who  will 
insist  that  the  negatives  are  so  great  as  to  practi- 
cally obscure,  if  not  obliterate,  the  virtue  of  the 
positives,  and  that  to  admit  even  the  value  of 
the  positives  in  certain  Communions  is  to  give 
countenance  to  the  negatives.  To  all  such,  of 
course,  any  adjustment  would  naturally  be  dis- 
tasteful, if  not  undesirable.  But  even  this  class 
is  diminishing  both  in  numbers  and  in  the  rigidity 
of  its  judgments.  Even  they  are  coming  to 
realize  that  the  continuance  of  a  divisive 
policy  means  a  denial  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
thousand  millions  who  have  not  yet  even  heard 
it.  The  tendency  of  the  day  is,  I  must  believe, 
to  count  as  of  more  value  than  all  human  dis- 
agreements our  common  dependence  on  Christ. 
The  insistence  on  the  disagreements  as  neces- 
sarily involving  contradictions  will  never  lead 


i62         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

us  out  of  the  darkness  of  division,  while  common 
dependence  on  Christ  will  save  all  differences 
that  have  virtue  in  them  as  a  part  of  the  Glory 
and  Beauty  of  the  one  Family  of  God.  Amidst 
all  the  damage  and  disaster  of  a  divided  house- 
hold one  thing  has  been  demonstrated  past  all 
discussion,  and  that  is,  that  any  truth,  any  part 
of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ,  has  to  its  extent 
within  it  power  to  save,  and  has  in  it  life  that 
is  indestructible. 

The  world  is  not  disturbed  by  differences  but 
it  is  confused  and  confounded  by  a  divided 
church.  Unity  will  never  come  through  mini- 
mizing the  faith,  circumscribing  the  tastes  or 
curtaiUng  the  liberty  of  men.  Christian  comity 
and  co-operation,  common  confidence  and  com- 
mon courtesy  in  readiness  with  Christ  to  rec- 
ognize a  cup  of  cold  water  given  in  His  name, 
is  the  spirit  that  must  prevail  and  be  cherished 
as  the  heart  and  the  life  of  Christianity,  as  the 
common  practice  of  the  Christian  churches, 
long  before  any  real  unity  will  be  wrought  out 
of  the  disastrous  divisions  of  Christendom. 

The  Edinburgh  Conference  is  an  object  lesson 
of  the  principle  I  have  been  trying  to  enforce. 
There  assembled  at  Edinburgh  in  1 910  Protes- 


CONCLUSIONS  163 

tants  of  almost  every  type  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and  with  them,  members  of  the  Anglican 
Communion  from  the  Churches  of  England, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  Canada  and  the  great  sister 
Church  in  America.  They  assembled  in  order 
to  study  together  how  better  to  extend  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  throughout  the  world. 
Primarily  a  missionary  conference  was  called, 
but  the  Conference  ended  in  a  practical  demand 
for  a  united  Christendom. 

I  know  full  well,  for  I  have  suffered  in  acquir- 
ing the  knowledge,  that  this  Conference  built 
wiser  than  it  knew.  From  the  day  its  Inter- 
national Committee  decided  to  call  it  a  "World 
Conference"  there  was  an  almost  irresistible 
effort,  much  of  it  unconscious,  to  limit  it  to  a 
Protestant  Conference.  The  Conference  itself 
however  at  Edinburgh  won  the  victory  over 
itself,  and  even  received  warmly  and  generously 
a  great  message  from  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishop 
of  Cremona  in  Italy,  and  with  generous  endurance 
listened  to  very  plain  talk  from  High  Church 
Anglicans.  The  letter  from  the  Roman  Bishop 
would  not  have  been  sent,  and  the  High  Church 
Anglicans  would  not  have  been  there,  nor  would 
the  Protestants  have  endured  either,  until  now 


i64        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

in  this  present  period,  when  Churches  are  so 
plainly  seeing  the  mind  of  Christ  and  are  trying 
to  obey  the  will  of  God. 

In  the  two  meetings  of  the  Continuation  Com- 
mittee of  the  Edinburgh  Conference  similar 
pressure  was  brought  to  bear  to  qualify  the 
universality  of  the  policy  of  the  Conference,  but 
at  each  meeting  its  Catholic  character  has  been 
preserved.  That  character  is  still  in  danger, 
as  real  character  is  always  in  danger,  but  its 
victory  is,  I  beHeve,  sure  because  the  mind  of 
Christendom  is  becoming  more  like  the  mind  of 
Him  who  is  "the  Desire  of  all  Nations,"  and 
the  determination  is  growing  to  give  Him  to 
the  Nations,  as  the  King  in  his  Kingdom,  and 
not  merely  as  an  isolated  individual  Personal 
Force. 

What  I  have  said  in  these  pages  I  endeavoured 
to  say  with  even  greater  frankness  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  communions  that  it 
has  been  my  privilege  to  meet  and  to  know,  and 
everywhere  the  growing  conviction  is  expressed 
that  life  must  correct  thought,  and  that  liberty 
like  authority  is  of  God.  The  words  of  the 
Bishop  of  Cremona  find  a  welcome  in  every  com- 
munion in  Christendom:   "Authority  that  does 


CONCLUSIONS  i6s 

not  issue  in  liberty  is  tyranny,  and  liberty  that 
is  not  supported  by  authority  is  license." 

My  conclusion  is,  that  the  Churches  of  Chris- 
tendom must  deal  the  one  with  the  other  and  with 
mankind  as  Christ  has  dealt  with  them  and  with 
humanity.  He  has  not  shut  us  out  of  His  love 
because  of  our  negatives  —  nor  yet  because  of 
our  positive  sins.  His  mercy  and  His  love  are 
beyond  our  ken,  and  He  saves  us  by  His  love 
for  us,  and  His  faith  in  us.  There  are  those 
in  every  communion  who  feel  this,  and  who 
desire  that  their  churches  shall  work  upon  this 
principle  and  along  these  lines  of  faith  and  love. 
In  spite  of  everything  we  must  believe,  and  act 
upon  the  belief,  that  as  Christ  is  One  His  Church 
is  one.  The  great  revolution  that  is  taking 
place  is  not  only  making  clearer  the  Deity  of 
Christ  and  intensifying  allegiance  to  His  Person, 
but  it  is  revealing  the  fact  and  the  reality  of  the 
Incarnation,  and  the  absolute  necessity  for  the 
Church  of  the  Incarnation  as  a  visible  witness 
of  the  invisible  God. 


ADDRESSES    AND    PAPERS 


..A&^:, 


TEE  FAMILY  OF  GOD 

Address  at  World's  Student  Christian  Federation, 
Constantinople,  April  26,  191 1. 

X  HE  supreme  fact  of  life  —  that  for  which 
and  to  which  all  things  were  created  and  move 
—  is  the  Family  of  God.  In  this  Family  the 
first  cause,  the  final  cause,  the  enabling  cause 
is  the  Christ  of  God,  perfect  God  and  perfect 
man.'  To  fulfil  all  the  relations  of  the  Family 
of  God  is  Eternal  Life.  To  isolate  oneself 
deUberately  and  permanently  from  the  Family 
is  death.  I  am  not  concerned  to  discuss  these 
alternatives  further  than  to  say  that  the  choice 
between  them  is  the  condition  of  character  — 
of  "Righteousness"  —  that  bond  of  perfectness 
which  is  the  character  of  the  Family  of  God. 
Righteousness  cannot  be  contained  in  an  indi- 
vidual or  in  an  isolated  part  of  the  Family. 
It  is  a  whole-family  virtue.  Our  Lord  stated 
this  principle  perfectly  for  Himself:  "For  their 
sakes  I  sanctify  myself ."  God's  words  are  things; 
they  are  what  they  represent.  Our  Lord  not 
only  did  not,  but  the  more  profound  truth  is 

that  He  could  not  have  perfected  Himself  if  He 
169 


I70        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

had  sought  to  do  it  for  His  own  sake.  Just  here 
is  to  be  found  Christ's  revelation.  He  was  ever 
and  always  trying  to  make  plain  the  Father's 
love;  and  His  earthly  work  culminated  in  His 
prayer  that  His  disciples  might  be  one  as  He 
and  the  Father  were  one  and  thus  prove  to  the 
world  that  the  Father  had  sent  Him. 

The  Family  of  God  is  the  only  adequate 
explanation  of  God  as  it  is  the  only  satisfying 
answer  to  the  infinite  needs  of  man.  Can  we 
wonder  that  Christians  have  groped  and  stum- 
bled and  yet  struggled  on  through  the  centuries 
in  the  effort  to  present  Christ  in  His  fullness  to 
mankind  ? 

Saint  John  represented  to  our  Lord  that  he 
and  the  disciple  had  forbidden  one  who  was 
working  in  His  name  and  yet  the  whole  purpose 
of  Christ  was  to  draw  all  men  to  Himself.  He 
came  to  reveal  a  divine  family,  to  impart  a 
divine  Hfe,  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  in  the 
Family  of  God.  His  own  disciples  following 
Him  daily  could  not  understand  the  scope  of 
His  love.  The  universality  of  His  claims  St. 
Paul  understood  better  later  when  in  amaze- 
ment at  divisions  amongst  the  disciples  he  ex- 
claimed,   "Is   Christ   divided?"    The   Apostle 


THE   FAMILY   OF   GOD  171 

saw  then  what  Christians  are  coming  to  see  now, 
that  a  divided  Christianity  witnesses  to  a  divided 
Christ.  But  let  us  be  fair  to  the  ages  that  are 
gone  and  to  all  sections  of  Christendom  that 
have  by  their  struggling  for  what  they  believe 
to  be  true  contributed  to  our  better  understand- 
ing. Let  us  use  with  our  might  with  absolute 
loyalty  to  the  person  of  Christ  the  little  that  we 
now  see  of  the  glory  and  fullness  and  power  of 
His  revelation  of  the  Family  of  God.  Let  us 
claim  all  that  is  ours,  in  natural  membership 
because  of  our  creation  by  the  Father,  because 
of  rebirth  through  re-creation  in  the  Incarnation 
of  the  Son  of  God,  because  of  our  free  recognition 
and  acceptance  of  our  full  inheritance. 

There  is  no  apologetic  for  a  divided  Chris- 
tianity. A  divided  Family  of  God  is  unthinkable. 
It  is  a  manifestation  of  God's  infinite  love  and 
mercy  that  His  Family  like  Himself  is  indivisi- 
ble. We  have  separated  from  each  other  and 
in  that  separation  are  bearing  false  witness 
against  the  imity  of  Christ  and  the  unity  of  His 
Body.  It  was  surely  because  in  the  honest  effort 
to  preserve  and  to  preach  the  whole  Gospel  as 
each  saw  it  that  Christian  Communions  lost 
their  perspective  and  were  able  to  justify  to 


172         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

themselves  separate  organizations  on  the  ground 
that  these  were  necessary  in  order  to  preserve 
their  conception  of  the  Gospel.  But  Christ 
and  the  Family  of  God  are  infinitely  greater 
than  any  or  all  human  conceptions  of  them. 
Therefore  unity  can  never  come  through  human 
agreement  as  to  definitions  of  Him  and  His 
Body.  Unity  must  come  through  loyalty  to 
His  Person  in  His  Body. 

Are  not  Christians  learning  this?  Else  why 
or  how  has  this  extraordinary  Conference 
been  assembled  from  more  than  thirty  nations 
and  from  so  many  types  of  religion?  Are  we 
not  learning  that  our  conceptions  are  not  essen- 
tials of  the  Gospel?  Are  we  not  coming  to  see 
that  precious  and  helpful  as  our  traditions,  our 
preferences  and  our  ideals  are  to  us,  and  right- 
fully ours  for  ourselves,  we  cannot  impose  what 
is  only  ours  upon  others  or  deprive  others  of 
what  is  only  theirs?  And  are  we  not  coming 
slowly  but  steadily  and  surely  to  see  that  the 
Gospel  is  in  deed  and  in  fact  the  good  news  of 
our  inclusion  with  all  mankind  in  the  love  of 
the  Father  in  His  Family  and  that  we  are  called 
to  love  and  to  serve  the  whole  Family  as  He 
loves  and  serves  it?    Everything  is  from  God. 


THE   FAMILY  OF   GOD  173 

He  first  loved  us.  He  gave  us  our  place  in 
the  Family.  He  gave  us  His  Son  who  is  suflS- 
cient  for  all  things.  He  sent  His  Holy  Spirit  to 
perfect  us. 

What  is  our  part  and  what  shall  this  body  of 
students  do  in  order  to  make  known  to  every 
man  his  place  and  part  in  the  Family  of  God? 
Surely  the  world  idea  was  never  so  great,  the 
whole  world  was  never  so  tangible,  the  inter- 
national ideal  never  so  real  and  so  realized  as 
now.  Let  us  make  no  mistake.  All  good  gifts 
are  of  God.  He  is  the  source  of  all  good.  He 
does  not  wait  on  organized  Christianity  for  His 
saving  work  in  humanity.  But  He  does  require 
that  spiritual  things  shall  be  spiritually  dis- 
cerned and  He  knows  that  the  witness  of  His 
Family  united,  loving,  and  expressing  its  love 
in  service,  is  necessary  to  the  conversion  of  the 
world.  We  must  seize  the  opportunity,  and  we 
can  only  seize  it  adequately,  by  realizing  and 
acting  upon  the  realization  that  all  who  name 
the  name  of  Christ  are,  in  spite  of  their  own 
sinful  divisions,  included  in  Christ.  On  this 
principle  we  must  pray  and  serve  and  sacrifice 
until  the  Supreme  Fact  of  Life  becomes  the 
supreme  motive  not  merely  in  our  own  lives 


174        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

but  in  the  corporate  life  of  our  Communions. 
We  are  to  seek  the  conservation  of  variety  as  a 
condition  of  living  unity.  Uniformity  is  the 
enemy  of  unity.  It  would  stifle  liberty  and 
destroy  initiative.  A  uniform  Church  would 
be  a  dead  Church.  It  would  not  have  the  breath 
of  life  in  it.  Variety,  liberty,  initiative,  au- 
thority are  not  the  enemies  of  unity,  nor  are 
they  antagonistic  in  themselves  —  they  are  the 
conditions  of  unity.  "Authority  that  does  not 
issue  in  liberty  is  tyranny.  Liberty  that  is  not 
supported  by  authority  is  license." 

The  simplest  principle  on  which  to  begin  to 
practise  the  spirit  of  unity  is  this  —  search  out 
the  virtues  in  other  Communions  and  emulate 
them,  and  dig  up  the  hidden  sins  in  your  own 
and  repent  of  them.  My  limited  experience 
leads  me  to  say  that  I  have  found  no  body  of 
Christians  as  full  of  error  and  as  bad  as  others 
have  described  them  as  being.  Equally  I 
would  say  that  all  Communions  have  more  sins 
than  they  have  found  out  and  confessed. 

The  unity  of  the  Spirit,  the  Scriptures  so 
state  it,  must  precede  the  bond  of  peace  —  and 
the  bond  of  peace  is  the  condition  of  righteous- 
ness of  life.    The  unity  of  the  people  of  God 


THE   FAMILY  OF   GOD  175 

in  His  Christ,  and  in  Christ's  Body,  is  something 
more  than  a  good  and  right  thing,  more  than  a 
source  of  multiplied  and  multiplying  power. 
It  is  all  this  and  something  infinitely  more.  It 
is  the  condition  of  righteousness  which  is  salva- 
tion —  the  complete  fulfilling  of  all  relations 
in  the  Family  of  God. 


CO-OPERATION  AND  UNITY 

Address  at  World  Missionary  Conference,  Edinburgh, 
June  21,  1910,  when  Mr.  McBee  read  the  now  famous  letter 
from  the  Bishop  of  Cremona  to  the  Conference. 

JL  HERE  is  one  characteristic  of  the  Report 
of  the  Commission  that  I  desire  to  emphasize. 
The  Report  I  think  reflects  the  mind  of  the 
International  Committee  that  formed  the  basis 
for  this  Conference  as  well  as  the  mind  of  the 
Conference  now  that  it  has  assembled  in  this 
respect  —  the  Report  is  positive,  constructive, 
synthetic.  It  has  embraced  in  its  purview  in- 
formation, or  it  has  reported  that  it  has  not 
secured  information,  from  practically  all  the 
fields  of  the  world.  The  conclusions  have  not 
been  analytical.  They  have  not  placed  partial 
truths  in  opposition.  They  have  avoided  that 
law  of  exclusion  which  is  so  far  foreign  to  the 
family  of  God  that  it  has  forced  much  of  the 
division  of  Christianity  from  which  we  are  now 
suffering.     Inclusion  and  not  exclusion  seems 

to  have  been  in  the  minds  of  every  one  who 
176 


CO-OPERATION  AND   UNITY     177 

contributed  to  the  Report.  And  the  Report  is 
remarkable  in  another  respect.  While  the  other 
Commissions  have  had  information  from  ail 
parts  of  the  world,  and  while  it  has  been  more 
or  less  true  that  the  Commissions  have  over- 
lapped and  got  information  one  from  the  other, 
this  Commission  has  possibly  had  more  contri- 
butions and  more  matter  turned  over  to  it  from 
the  other  seven  Commissions  than  has  been 
turned  over  to  any  other  Commission,  so  that 
one  may  speak  of  it  as  the  joint  contribution 
of  the  eight  Commissions.  I  beheve,  if  the  Hnes 
of  the  Report  are  followed,  if  inclusion  prevails 
and  negatives  are  kept  in  the  background,  and 
we  hold  to  positive  truth  wherever  we  find  it, 
a  new  day  will  dawn,  not  only  for  the  mem- 
bers of  this  Conference  and  the  Churches  that 
they  represent,  but  it  will  influence  the  whole 
Christian  world,  and  in  doing  so,  influence  the 
whole  world.  For,  after  all,  I  think  we  must 
remember  that  there  are  some  things  wholly 
beyond  our  power  to  deal  with,  and  I  think  we 
may  learn  something  of  a  new  language  in  the 
foreign  field  and  at  home  in  remembering  that 
all  the  children  of  men  were  created  by  the  one 
God  and  Father  of  us  all,  and  made  in   His 


178        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

image,  and  that  He  loved  that  World  so  that 
He  gave  His  Son,  who  in  His  incarnation  has 
included  in  that  mystical  and  infinite  act  the 
whole  of  humanity.  So  that  we  do  not  go  in  a 
real  sense  to  heathen,  we  do  not  go  to  aliens 
from  God's  standpoint  or  that  of  our  Lord,  but 
we  go  as  Bishop  Brooks  once  said  in  one  of  his 
eloquent  appeals  to  a  meeting  of  young  men, 
we  go  to  find  God's  people.  We  go  to  feel  after 
every  race,  to  feel  after  them  if  haply  we  may 
find  them.  Once  more  our  Lord's  Incarnation, 
His  satisfaction  and  suffering  for  the  whole  sins 
of  the  whole  of  humanity,  the  power  of  His 
resurrection,  His  vascension  and  His  sitting  at 
the  right  hand  of  Almighty  God  is  for  the  whole 
of  humanity,  and  when  He  sent  out  His  Church 
He  did  not  send  His  disciples  merely  to  proclaim 
Him  but  to  baptize  into  the  name  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  We  can 
never  get  rid  of  that  sacramental  element  in  the 
Commission,  which  would  be  powerless  as  a 
mere  proclamation.  It  binds  us  together  in 
that  one  Body  of  the  one  Christ  which,  let  us 
understand  again,  was  not  made  by  us,  is  not 
dependent  on  what  we  think,  or  do,  or  feel,  but 
was  made  by  Christ.     It  is  His  body,  not  our 


CO-OPERATION  AND   UNITY     179 

Church;  it  is  His  Kingdom,  not  our  denomina- 
tion. The  most  blessed  truth  that  this  assembly 
feels,  and  has  felt  at  every  mention  of  it,  is  that 
though  separated  from  each  other,  we  have  not 
been  able  to  separate  ourselves  from  Christ. 
We  have  been  many  centuries  in  getting 
apart.  It  has  not  been  an  easy  thing  to  escape 
the  prayer  of  our  Lord.  It  has  been  through 
much  suffering,  and  great  heroes  and  martyrs 
mark  the  line  of  division.  All  honour  to  those 
who  stood  for  their  convictions  because  con- 
victions are  the  standard  of  action,  and  a  man 
darkens  the  way  and  saps  the  foundation  of 
character,  of  man  or  of  Church,  if  he  tampers 
with  its  convictions.  But  we  have  need  to 
learn  that  our  convictions  are  not  the  standard 
of  truth,  and  that  our  convictions  are  open  to 
the  enlightening  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
The  Holy  Spirit  has  been  irresistible  and  we 
have  been  powerless  to  escape  His  blessing  in 
disguise.  Let  us  be  sure  that  we  do  not  erect 
our  conviction  into  the  infallibility  either  of 
the  Pope  in  Rome  or  of  the  Pope  in  the 
individual's  own  bosom  and  thus  make  our 
convictions  a  cause  of  division.  Let  us  not 
insist  on  uniformity  which  has  been  so  justly 


i8o        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

condemned  here,  but  aim  rather  at  that  unity 
which  characterises  God's  action  everywhere. 
There  is  not  a  truth  for  which  suflfering  has  been 
endured,  there  is  not  a  small  item  of  the  truth 
that  is  held  by  the  smallest  body  of  the  Christians 
in  the  world  that  is  not  present  in,  and  constitutes 
a  part  of,  that  which  is  called  Catholic,  and  it 
must  be  held  as  part,  and  no  efifort  for  unity 
must  be  too  ready  to  run  over  it  or  in  any  way 
impair  it.  We  must  not  get  ahead  of  our  own 
convictions,  but  be  true  to  them  to  the  end. 
We  have  attained  a  large  measure  of  the  unity 
of  the  Spirit.  Its  witness  here  has  been  amaz- 
ing. It  is  manifesting  itself  throughout  the 
world  and  throughout  the  denominations  of 
Christian  people.  We  must  not  only  have 
that  unity  of  the  Spirit,  but  we  must  act  in  that 
Spirit  if  we  would  make  the  next  step  into  the 
bond  of  peace. 

I  have  taken  rather  seriously  my  responsibility 
as  a  member  of  this  Commission.  I  have  not 
been  satisfied  with  written  enquiries;  I  have 
visited  every  body  of  Christians  that  it  has  been 
within  my  power  to  reach.  I  have  had  a  corre- 
spondence so  extended  that  it  would  be  of  the 
richest  value  if  there  were  time  to  discuss  and 


CO-OPERATION  AND    UNITY     i8i 

to  read  some  of  it.  I  have  chosen  one  letter 
which  was  especially  written  to  be  read  at  this 
Conference,  and  let  me  say  here,  it  is  no  new 
utterance  for  a  man  who  is  nearly  eighty  years 
old;  it  is  no  new  experience  for  him.  I  have 
been  familiar  with  his  writings  for  years,  and 
I  regard  him  as  one  of  the  great  evangelical 
preachers  of  the  world.  I  regard  him  as  one 
of  the  great  bishops  of  the  world,  a  beautiful 
character,  and  in  conferring  with  him  in  his 
own  palace  in  Cremona  within  the  last  two  months 
I  found  he  was  so  much  in  agreement  with  the 
feehng  of  this  Conference  that  I  got  him  to 
write  a  letter  specially  to  be  read  at  this  Con- 
ference. 


RELATIONS    BETWEEN   CHURCHES 

Address  at  Pan- Anglican  Congress,  London,  June   22, 
1908. 

X  HE  titles  and  publications  of  Section  F 
assume  the  existence  of  an  Anglican  Communion 
as  an  organic  whole.  It  is  discussed  in  itself, 
in  relation  to  others,  in  relation  to  its  parts.  The 
phrase  describes  certain  Churches  that  are  in 
communion.  But  duly  appointed  representa- 
tives of  these  various  independent  Churches 
have  never  met  even  to  discuss  and  formulate 
an  organization,  much  less  have  the  existing 
Churches  been  organized  by  mutual  consent. 
There  has  been  no  sovereign  power  to  limit  or 
to  bind,  in  principle  or  in  fact,  the  parts.  The 
papers  of  this  section,  assuming  that  there  is  a 
whole,  look  in  the  main  downward  to  parts.  A 
section  of  Christianity  is  thus  assumed  to  be  a 
whole  and  is  treated  as  having  authority  to 
act  in  that  capacity  toward  others. 

I  wish  to  present  another  point  of  view.     I 
desire    to    think    of   Anglican    and   American 
182 


RELATIONS  BETWEEN  CHURCHES    183 

Churches  as  themselves,  parts  of  the  Church 
CathoUc,  accountable  to  that  whole  as  the  only 
whole  in  Christ;  I  desire  to  think  of  AngHcan- 
ism  attempting  to  constitute  itself  a  whole 
exactly  as  we  think  of  Romanism  attempting 
to  do  the  same  thing;  I  desire  to  think  of  AngU- 
canism  attempting  to  justify  its  isolation  by 
protests  against  the  errors  of  Romanism  exactly 
as  we  think  of  Protestantism's  effort  to  justify 
its  isolation  by  protests  against  the  errors  of 
Anglicanism;  I  desire  to  think  of  the  exclusive 
assumption  of  Anglicanism  to  preside  over  God's 
heritage  exactly  as  we  think  of  Rome's  exclusive 
claim  of  authority  and  jurisdiction.  I  believe 
we  must  think  of  the  one  Body  of  Christ  as  His, 
of  every  one  baptized  into  His  name  as  His,  of 
every  attempt  to  divide  His  one  Body  as  sin. 
I  beHeve  Roman,  Protestant,  Anglican,  or  any 
other  isolated  human  system  is  in  a  state  of 
sin,  to  be  repented  of  only  by  minimizing  human 
differences  and  magnifying  oneness  in  Christ. 
Any  attempted  organization  of  the  Anglican 
Communion  would  mean  limiting  the  horizon 
rather  than  extending  it,  would  tend  to  sec- 
tarianize  and  not  to  catholicize  the  Church. 
Many  writers  are  examples  of  this  trend.    They 


i84        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

wish  to  use  at  once  whatever  central  power 
might  be  created  to  limit  the  Uberty  of  inde- 
pendent Churches  as  already  exercised.  They 
wish  to  take  advantage  of  the  existence  of  such 
a  central  body  to  secure  narrower  definitions 
of  dogma  and  discipline.  What  all  Churches 
need  is  to  look  out  of  themselves  and  away 
from  themselves  to  a  catholicity  embracing  all 
whom  Christ  has  included  by  baptism  and 
seeking  all  whom  He  has  included  in  His 
sacrifice.  England  and  America  have  had  a 
large  and  honourable  part  in  creating  a  new 
ideal  of  representative  authority  for  the  world. 
The  highest  expression  yet  to  be  found  for  that 
ideal  is  the  Hague  Court.  The  two  EngUsh- 
speaking  powers  were  able  to  render  this  service 
because  they  had  worked  out  in  themselves 
and  with  each  other  friendly  relations  based 
upon  the  responsibility  of  each  as  an  indepen- 
dent nation,  and  upon  the  responsibility  of  all 
nations  in  common  for  the  progress  and  moral 
health  of  the  world.  Such  service  would  have 
been  impossible  if  the  two  English-speaking 
peoples  had  formed  an  "Anglican  compact." 
Their  horizon  as  peoples  would  have  been 
contracted;     their   purpose    would   have    been 


RELATIONS  BETWEEN  CHURCHES    185 

self-centred,  if  not  selfish;  and  the  great  world 
problem  of  racial  differences  would  have  been 
intensified.  Who  would  check  the  progress 
toward  righteousness  and  peace  by  obstructing 
this  co-operation  of  the  independent  nations  of 
the  world?  What  is  true  of  our  nations  is 
true  of  our  Churches.  Their  value  to  the  world 
depends  upon  thdr  independence  as  Churches 
and  the  friendships  they  are  able  to  form. 
Their  value  to  their  respective  nations  depends 
upon  their  capacity  to  unite  the  Christian 
peoples  of  those  nations.  The  English  and 
American  Churches,  as  we  call  them,  are  not 
co-extensive  with  EngUsh-speaking  Christianity; 
they  represent  only  sections  of  it.  They  have 
shown  little  capacity  to  produce  union  among 
English-speaking  Christians.  Where  they  are 
most  strongly  entrenched  the  hnes  of  difference 
are  most  sharply  marked.  The  formation, 
therefore,  of  an  Anglican  Communion  would 
be  a  notice  to  national  Churches  that  English 
and  American  churchmen  had  combined  to 
propagate  their  differentia;  and  it  would  be 
a  very  distinct  notice  to  Christians  at  home 
that  the  combination  was  made  to  force 
the    battle    for    Anglicanism.     Taken    at    its 


i86        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

worst,  such  a  combination  would  mean  more 
narrowness,  more  bitterness,  more  strife.  Taken 
at  its  best,  it  would  mean  either  an  effort  to 
maintain  Anglican  Christianity  as  a  via  media, 
or  to  represent  it  as  a  model  catholicity  as  against 
Romanism  on  one  side  and  Protestantism  on  the 
other.  The  via  media,  if  not  the  worst  form  of 
sectarianism,  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  ob- 
noxious in  its  fruits.  It  walls  off  the  extremes 
from  each  other  and  itself  from  both.  It  lacks 
the  courage  of  conviction  and  the  boldness  of 
initiative  of  either  extreme  and  combines  the 
exclusiveness  of  each.  As  to  the  other  alter- 
native of  a  model  catholicity,  Anghcan  can  no 
more  be  universal  than  Roman.  To  organize 
Anglicanism  would  be  to  imitate  the  mistake 
of  Romanism  on  a  smaller  scale.  All  national 
and  rehgious  types  must  be  brought  to  a  Hague 
Court.  They  will  not  come.  So  said  wise  and 
unwise  men  of  the  nations.  But  England  and 
America  believed  differently.  By  showing  to 
the  world  the  possibility  of  close  friendship 
between  independent  unallied  nations,  they  have 
helped  the  world  to  beheve  differently. 

As  independent  and  yet  in  close  friendship, 
the  English  and  American  Churches  have  the 


RELATIONS  BETWEEN  CHURCHES    187 

same  opportunities  for  influencing  Christen- 
dom that  our  nations  had  for  influencing  the 
world.  The  question  is,  Do  churchmen  believe 
in  the  Universal  Church,  or  only  in  an  Anglican 
form  of  it?  The  Lambeth  Conference  has  con- 
tributed to  inter-Church  understanding  and 
friendship.  And  this  Congress,  because  it 
represents  the  whole  Church  and  not  merely 
one  order,  will  contribute  still  more  to  friendship 
and  interdependence .  But  the  American  Church 
cannot  take  part  in  organizing  an  Anglican 
Communion.  It  cannot  combine  with  a  State 
Church  because  it  beHeves  self-government  to 
be  an  essential  principle  of  the  Universal  Church. 
It  carmot  combine  with  a  Church  in  whose 
administration  the  laity  are  not  represented, 
because  it  believes  that  the  whole  body  of  the 
Church  is  essential  to  its  healthy  life.  It  can- 
not combine  with  a  Church  in  which  non-elective 
ecclesiastical  precedence  prevails  without  com- 
promising its  conviction  that  representative 
authority  and  government  are  conditions  of 
universality.  These,  however,  are  incidental 
and  temporary  objections  which  conceivably 
will  be  removed  in  time.  The  fundamental 
objection  is  the  necessity  for  preserving   the 


i88        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

individuality  of  national  Churches  in  order  to 
organize  Christendom  as  the  Catholic  Church. 
Isolated  and  unrelated  Churches,  like  isolated 
and  unrelated  men,  are  in  an  im-Christian 
attitude.  Take  away  from  the  creeds  of 
Christendom  the  assertion  of  oneness,  and 
you  take  away  Christianity  from  them.  Holi- 
ness, Catholicity,  Apostolicity,  cannot  exist 
without  oneness.  They  result  from  oneness. 
They  are  not  the  cause  of  it. 

The  Chicago-Lambeth  Quadrilateral  faUed 
just  because  it  did  not  recognize  this  fact. 
It  set  forth  the  results  of  unity  as  the  con- 
ditions of  unity.  It  separated  essential  facts 
and  principles  from  the  life  that  produced 
them.  The  four  essentials  of  that  declaration 
grew  historically  out  of  the  oneness  of  Christ's 
Body.  It  is  inconceivable  that  they  could  have 
produced  it.  It  is  a  ruinous  error  to  confuse 
the  possessions  and  instruments  of  the  Church 
with  the  Church  itself  as  the  Living  Body  of 
Christ.  The  historic  Churches  hold  the  Quadri- 
lateral, yet  it  is  these  Churches  that  are  most 
fundamentally  separated.  They  have  forced 
practically  all  the  divisions  of  Christendom  by 
forcing  the  alternative  between  Christian  liberty 


RELATIONS   BETWEEN  CHURCHES   189 

and  un-Christian  authority.  The  idea  of  mo- 
narchical rule  is  taken  over  from  human  d3aias- 
ties.  It  is  not  inherent  in  the  Church,  but  is 
antagonistic  to  it.  The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  a 
universal  democracy.  Its  King  is  among  His 
people  as  One  who  serves.  The  exercise  of 
autocratic  authority  destroyed  unity.  The  re- 
covery of  representative  authority  can  alone 
restore  it.  In  the  great  crises  of  the  Church 
from  which  divisions  arose,  it  was  not  the  whole 
voice  of  the  Church  but  the  proclamations  of 
official  Christianity  which  erected  barriers  be- 
tween those  whom  Christ  declared  to  be  brethren. 
Those  barriers  will  only  fall  away  when  the  whole 
voice  of  the  Church  is  heard  again. 


TEE   PRIESTHOOD  OF   THE   LAITY 

Address  at  Pan- Anglican  Congress,  London,  June  17, 
1908. 

It  was  said  long  ago  that  political  economy 
differed  from  Christian  economy,  in  that  in 
political  economy  the  demand  creates  the  supply, 
while  in  Christian  economy  the  supply  creates 
the  demand.  God  first  loves  us  and  creates  in 
us  out  of  our  great  need  a  demand  for  Himself. 
The  mission  of  His  Church  is  to  follow  His  mind 
and  method  and  to  create  a  demand  in  mankind 
for  Christ.  From  what  we  have  heard  already 
in  this  Congress,  and  from  what  we  hear  from 
all  parts  of  Christendom,  the  demand  for  minis- 
tration is  greater  than  the  supply.  This  con- 
dition is  unnatural;  it  is  something  more  than 
a  mere  economic  calamity  and  more  than  a 
temporary  breakdown  of  the  machinery;  it  is, 
I  beheve,  the  natural  fruit  of  a  long-continued 
policy  that  is  not  in  accord  with  and  cannot  be 
reconciled  with  the  divine  constitution  of  the 
Church.  Speaking  generally,  organized  Chris- 
tianity is  not  keeping  pace  with  the  growing 
faith  of  mankind  in  Christ.  It  is  not  holding 
190 


THE  PRIESTHOOD   OF  THE  LAITY  191 

believers  together  in  the  spirit  of  unity,  in  the 
bond  of  peace,  and  in  righteousness  of  life. 
Why?  Undoubtedly,  the  answer  would  seem 
to  be  the  divisions  in  Christendom,  which  in 
themselves  contradict  the  gospel  they  preach 
of  one  Christ  and  one  Body  of  Christ.  But 
these  divisions  result  from  another  cause,  and 
that  cause  is  involved  in  the  subject  of  our  dis- 
cussion to-day.  How  it  has  come  about  I  shall 
not  stop  to  discuss;  but  throughout  Christen- 
dom, and  especially  throughout  the  historic 
Churches,  a  professionalized  ministry  has  been 
substituted  for  Apostohc  Order,  and  an  official- 
ized religion  has  been  substituted  for  the  family 
religion  of  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles. 

The  restoration  of  the  family  ideal  and  family 
life  of  the  Church  will  alone  enable  the  Church 
to  keep  the  supply  in  advance  of  the  demand, 
demonstrating  that  like  God  the  Church  loves 
man  first  and  would  have  him  in  her  one  fold. 
The  restoration  of  the  family  Hfe  is  the  only 
promise  of  the  reunion  of  the  Family  of  God. 
I  know  of  no  priesthood  of  the  laity  apart 
from  the  ministerial  priesthood;  but,  equally,  I 
know  of  no  ministerial  priesthood  apart  from  the 
priesthood  of  the  laity.     One  speaker  in  this 


192        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

section  has  already  quoted  Canon  Liddon's 
statement  that  the  priesthood  of  the  clergy  and 
laity  are  not  different  in  kind  but  only  in  degree. 
There  is  but  one  priesthood  in  Christ  —  how  can 
there  be  more  in  His  Body?  We  are  bom  by 
baptism  into  His  Body  and  share  His  Priesthood. 
Hostile  critic  and  faithful  Christian  are  alike 
agreed  as  to  the  place  of  baptism  in  the  his- 
tory of  Christianity.  The  creation  of  the  uni- 
versal priesthood  is  the  act  of  Christ.  The 
development  of  the  ministry  is  the  act  of  the 
Church,  as  we  see  in  the  creation  of  the  order 
of  deacons.  Baptism  is  God's  act.  The  words 
of  the  Church,  "This  child  is  regenerate,"  is 
a  simple  statement  of  actual  fact.  That  the 
fact  may  be  converted  into  the  life  of  Christ, 
He  Himself  instituted  the  other  Sacrament  of 
life  in  brotherhood.  Here,  as  in  baptism,  God's 
power  is  absolute.  He  is  present  as  the  author 
and  finisher;  we  feed  on  Him.  Let  us  not  stop 
to  discuss  how;  let  us  not  stop  in  symbolism. 
Let  us  accept  absolutely  that  He  alone  is  our 
life.  He  is  present,  we  feed  on  Him;  He  it  is 
into  Whom  we  have  been  incorporated  that  we 
may  fulfil  our  priesthood  representing  God  to 
man  and  man  to  God.    The  universal  priest- 


THE   PRIESTHOOD   OF  THE  LAITY  193 

hood,  including  ministry  and  laity,  one  and 
indivisible,  is  created  to  fulfil  the  universal 
mission  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour  of  mankind. 
Upon  this  foundation  all  else  is  built.  The 
ministerial  or  representative  priesthood  in  all 
its  fullness  and  richness  is  not  the  whole  but 
only  a  part  of  Apostolic  Order.  The  Body  of 
Christ  is  a  united  family;  the  mission  and  the 
end  are  the  same ;  it  is  a  religion  of  unity.  The 
compartment  idea  of  religion  does  not  enter 
into  it. 

When  this  social  aspect  of  Christianity  was 
sacrificed  for  professionaUzed  and  officialized 
Christianity,  the  first  seeds  of  division  were 
sown.  The  voice  of  the  laity,  said  Bishop  West- 
cott,  with  rare  exception,  has  been  silent  in  the 
historic  Churches  for  many  centuries.  What 
the  effect  of  this  silence  has  been  is  strikingly 
shown  in  Archbishop  Benson's  "Cyprian." 
Cyprian  began  his  episcopate  with  a  resolution 
to  do  nothing  without  the  presbytery,  the 
deacons,  and  the  laity;  but  he  departed  from 
this  apostohc  principle  and  "his  later  Baptismal 
Councils  failed  doctrinally,"  the  archbishop  tells 
us,  because  they  were  composed  exclusively  of 
bishops.    Archbishop  Benson  was  not  one  calcu- 


194        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

lated  to  sacrifice  or  yield  one  iota  of  the  aposto- 
late.  The  archbishop  describes  those  Councils 
as  composed  of  men  of  rare  piety,  intelligence,  and 
knowledge  of  the  world.  He  says  they  were  not 
acting  under  State  pressure  or  trying  a  teacher, 
or  judging  a  leader,  but  were  looking  for  princi- 
ples. Seldom  could  selfish  elements  be  so  nearly 
eliminated.  "Such,"  he  said,  "was  that  House 
of  Bishops.  The  result  it  reached  was  unchari- 
table, antiscriptural,  uncatholic,  and  it  was 
unanimous."  The  cause  he  finds  in  these  simple 
words  —  "the  laity  were  silent."  "The  mis- 
chief of  these  Councils,"  Archbishop  Benson 
says,  "was  healed  by  the  simple  working  of  the 
Christian  society.  Life  corrected  the  error  of 
thought." 

Archbishop  Benson  and  Bishop  Westcott  alike 
appeal  for  the  restoration  of  Apostolic  Order,  the 
recovery  of  the  place  of  the  laity  in  the  Church. 
They  speak  as  having  authority,  but  they  do 
not  speak  more  frankly  or  more  nobly  than  the 
Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  Cremona  in  his 
pastoral  to  his  diocese  two  years  ago.  Speaking 
in  behalf  of  the  separation  of  Church  and  State 
in  France,  this  Italian  bishop  challenged  the 
attention  of  the  world  by  maintaining  that  the 


THE   PRIESTHOOD   OF  THE  LAITY  195 

Church  needed  to  be  thrown  absolutely  upon  its 
spiritual  responsibility  and  freedom  of  action 
which  had  been  committed  to  it  by  Christ  Him- 
self. He  said,  in  effect,  that  we  Christians  hold 
to  tradition  and  authority,  and  we  hold  to  it 
too  much.  The  people  of  the  world  are  coming 
to  believe  in  and  to  claim  Hberty,  and  they  will 
have  it,  and  ought  to  have  it.  The  Church 
must  learn  that  authority  and  liberty  are  alike 
of  God.  He  realized  that  authority  which  does 
not  issue  in  liberty  is  tyranny,  and  that  liberty 
which  is  not  controlled  by  authority  is  license. 
The  latent  power  of  the  vast  body  of  Chris- 
tians throughout  the  world  is  incalculable,  indeed 
it  is  imimaginable.  How  shall  it  be  aroused? 
There  are  men  in  our  communion  alone  who  are 
shaping  the  destinies  of  nations,  who  direct  the 
industries,  and  in  a  measure  control  the  lives  of 
untold  thousands,  and  yet  nowhere  on  our 
continent  or  yours  do  these  men  exercise  an 
influence  for  Christianity  in  the  smallest  degree 
comparable  with  that  which  they  exercise  in  the 
world.  As  our  Christianity  is  constituted  to- 
day, if  such  men  were  to  offer  themselves  and 
their  genius  to  the  Church,  what  could  be  done 
with    them?    Turning    to    the    vast    mass    of 


196        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

humanity,  whom  we  have  left  practically  un- 
touched by  our  ofl&cialized  Christianity,  what 
use  should  we  be  able  to  make  of  their  Hves  of 
incomparable  sacrifice  and  faithfulness,  if  they 
should  offer  themselves  in  large  numbers  for 
service  in  their  Lord's  family?  The  time  is  past 
to  speak  to  the  layman  in  economic  language. 
He  is  a  priest;  he  partakes  of  the  priesthood  of 
Christ,  and  his  manhood,  his  talents,  and  his 
genius  must  be  called  out,  and  these  will  never 
be  called  out  without  giving  him  the  work  and 
the  responsibility  of  a  priest.  Charles  James 
Wills,  while  working  in  the  slums  of  New  York, 
asked  a  little  boy,  "  Is  your  father  a  Christian?  " 
The  boy  replied,  "Yes,  Mr.  Wills,  but  he  does 
not  work  at  it  much."  The  world  is  saying 
that  of  the  Churches.  We  are  not  working  at 
our  religion.  Certainly  we  are  not  working 
with  that  initiative,  boldness  and  power  that 
characterize  the  work  of  men  in  great  corporate 
life,  whether  in  finance  or  other  enterprize, 
or  in  international  co-operation.  Nations  are 
regarded  as  selfish  and  unworthy  if  they  isolate 
themselves  to-day.  It  is  admitted  that  the 
Church  has  a  message  of  a  world  religion,  of  a 
world  family,  of  a  universal  home,  and  it  is 


THE  PRIESTHOOD   OF  THE  LAITY  197 

time  that  we  put  ourselves  to  work,  realize  our 
priesthood,  and  in  doing  so  prove  the  divine 
character  of  the  ministerial  priesthood.  We 
will  thus  justify  the  priesthood  of  the  ministry 
we  have  received  from  the  apostles,  and  which 
we  profess  so  loudly  but  deny  so  effectually  in 
life. 


ADJUSTING    THE   CHURCH 

Address  before  Churchmen's  Association  of  New  York, 
October  4,  1909,  on  the  subject  of  Adjusting  the  Church  to  a 
World  of  Thought  and  Life  Different  from  that  in  which  it 
first  Appeared. 


Wi 


HAT  the  question  on  the  paper  is  really 
intended  to  mean  seems  clear.  Our  discussion 
of  it,  however,  will  be  simplified  by  showing  that 
its  apparent  meaning  is  not  its  real  or  intended 
meaning.  Can  man  adjust  the  Church?  He 
is  in  fact  the  creature,  not  the  creator  of  the 
Church.  The  Church  is  not  a  machine  which  he 
controls  or  adjusts,  but  an  organism  into  which 
he  is  bom.  The  Church  possesses  man,  not 
man  the  Church.  The  Church  is  the  divine- 
human  Body  of  Christ. 

In  His  Incarnation  Christ  has  included  all 
mankind,  whether  they  will  or  no.  In  doing 
so  He  precluded  the  possibility  of  man's  adjust- 
ing Him  or  His  Church  to  conditions  past  or 
future.     His  Church  includes  in  its  mission  the 

whole  of  hiunanity  for  all  time.     It  offers  to 
198 


ADJUSTING  THE   CHURCH       199 

humanity  its  Sacraments  of  birth  and  life  as  the 
divine  means  of  realizing  the  fullness  and  the 
wholeness  of  life  in  God.  Our  question  then  is 
not  the  adjustment  of  the  Church  to  present 
conditions  but  rather  the  adjustment  of  our- 
selves to  the  Church;  or,  truer  still,  the  fuller 
realization  of  our  life  in  the  Church;  or,  still 
higher  and  truer,  the  fuller  realization  of  the 
Church  as  the  community  of  saints,  the  com- 
mon corporate  life  of  Christians  which  Christ 
instituted  in  and  through  the  Sacraments.  It 
is  this  divine-human  Church,  to  which  we  are 
committed,  revealed  to  us  as  the  Body  of  Christ, 
and  not  the  sectarian  conception  of  a  Church  as 
an  institution  committed  to  man  or  made  by 
man,  defined  by  man,  adjusted  by  man  and 
controlled  by  man. 

This  latter  creation  is  not  the  Church.  It 
is  the  caricature  of  the  Church  represented  by 
the  many  Churches  of  divided  Christendom  — 
not  the  one  Body  of  the  one  Lord  —  not  the  one 
faith  once  for  all  delivered,  which  St.  Jude  de- 
scribes as  the  living  Christ,  but  many  Churches 
with  many  theologies  (called  faiths),  divided 
and  contending  for  theories  about  Christ,  His 
Sacraments  and  His  Church,  but  not  standing 


200        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

in  and  for  the  Christ  of  history  and  for  unity 
with  Him  through  the  Sacraments  of  His  ordain- 
ing. Essentials  cannot  change.  They  are  not 
adjustable,  because  they  are  not  mechanical; 
they  are  living,  universal  in  their  application  — 
infinite  in  their  reach.  Because  finite  man  is 
born  for  an  infinite  existence,  essentials  are  and 
must  be  available  and  assimilable  under  an 
infinite  variety  of  means  proportioned  to  his 
infinite  destiny.  These  means  or  accidents  are 
rightly  used  only  in  subordination  to  essentials. 
Under  no  conditions  are  they  ever  rightly  or 
righteously  used  when  they  are  put  before  or  in 
the  way  of  essentials. 

We  are  in  Christ  by  His  own  act.  We  are 
included  in  Him  through  His  Incarnation, 
Atonement  and  Resurrection.  Our  salvation 
is  perfected,  and  perfectly  complete  from  His 
side.  Because  we  believe  in  His  divinity  we 
believe  in  the  divine  institution  and  character 
of  His  Church.  Relation  with  Him  and  with 
mankind  in  His  Church  is  the  sole  essential 
Christianity.  All  else  is  means  to  the  full 
realization  of  membership  in  His  Body.  The 
answer  to  our  question  is  to  be  found  just  here. 
The  gift  of  the  Sacraments  —  the  message  of 


ADJUSTING  THE   CHURCH       201 

the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  was  committed  to 
His  disciples,  but  the  Church  itself  was  not 
committed  to  them.  Our  Lord  charged  His 
disciples  to  do  His  work  in  His  Church,  as  the 
liturgy  perfectly  expresses  it  in  the  office  for 
the  consecration  of  a  bishop  who  is  made  a 
"bishop  in  the  Church  of  God,"  not  a  bishop 
over  the  Church  of  God.  I  know  of  no  more 
complete  answer  to  our  question  than  is  involved 
in  absolute  obedience  to  the  commissions  of  our 
Lord  to  His  disciples.  Go  ye  into  all  the  world 
and  preach  the  Gospel,  baptizing  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
As  my  Father  hath  sent  me  into  the  world, 
even  so  send  I  you  into  the  world. 

The  means  provided  by  Christ  is  birth  by 
Baptism  into  His  Body  and  a  common  feeding 
upon  Him  in  the  Sacrament  of  hfe.  Obedience 
through  the  common  Sacraments  of  the  common 
Lord  of  our  common  humanity  will  recover  the 
corporate  and  social  side  of  Christianity  which 
in  Christ  is  essential  Christianity.  Union  and 
communion  will  find  expression  in  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Sacraments  to  their  true  place  in 
worship.  No  liturgy  is  representative  of  essen- 
tial Christianity  which  does  not  present  as  the 


202        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

central  act  of  common  corporate  worship  the 
Eucharist,  that  does  not  dignify  in  the  same 
way,  in  liturgy  and  architecture,  the  great 
sacrament  of  Baptism. 

It  is  impossible  that  an  elaborate  form  of 
worship  such  as  Morning  and  Evening  Prayer 
could  ever  be  catholic  in  its  appeal  to  "all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men."  They  do  not  under- 
stand it.  It  is  the  flower  of  a  local  culture  and 
the  fruit  of  a  highly-developed  taste.  Such  a 
liturgy,  which  gives  the  sacraments  of  hfe  a 
secondary  and  incidental  place,  can  never  make 
a  universal  appeal.  Men  however  ignorant  do 
understand,  and  can  be  made  to  understand, 
that  they  must  be  born  and  that  they  must  be 
fed  if  they  would  live.  As  the  family  meal  is 
the  bond  of  union  in  all  stages  of  human  experi- 
ence, even  so  the  Lord's  feast  at  the  Lord's  altar 
is  the  common  bond  of  all  who  accept  or  seek 
after  salvation  in  Him,  who  for  their  sakes 
became  man,  and  whose  blood  was  shed  for 
them.  Our  system  has  no  general  conciliar 
sanction,  nor  can  its  arrangement  and  derange- 
ment appeal  to  catholic  practice.  It  is  often 
not  only  modern,  but  protestant  and  negative. 
Because  Christ  is  all  in  all  and  the  impartation 


ADJUSTING  THE   CHURCH       203 

of  His  life  is  in  His  hands,  men  j&nd  and  follow 
Him,  wherever  and  however  He  is  preached; 
wherever  His  Sacraments  are  administered  those 
who  seek  and  find  Him  find  something  to  grasp 
in  the  idea  of  a  common  birth  and  a  common 
meal  at  the  Lord's  table. 

As  Hooker  thought,  the  impartation  of 
Christ  through  the  Sacraments  is  not  dependent 
upon  what  we  think  of  them  or  dogmatize  about 
them,  but  upon  the  willingness  and  capacity  of 
our  universal  Lord  to  make  Himself  known  and 
to  impart  Himself  to  those  who  call  on  Him. 
With  all  that  hinders  its  work,  and  all  that 
obscures  its  truth,  and  all  that  tends  to  sub- 
ordinate its  Gospel  message,  the  Roman  Com- 
munion holds  its  masterful  place  in  the  lives 
of  peoples  and  men  throughout  the  world  by 
reason  of  the  position  it  gives  in  its  liturgy  and 
its  worship  to  the  Eucharist.  The  sacramental 
life,  the  community  and  corporate  Hfe,  the  social 
and  family  life  is  so  essential  in  God's  mind  that 
man  made  in  His  image  responds,  universally 
responds,  when  this  call  from  God  comes  as  the 
answer  to  his  inmost  need.  This  is  true  of  the 
utterly  ignorant,  who  has  only  a  partially  defined 
consciousness  of  his  need,  as  well  as  of  the  most 


204        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

highly-developed  man  of  civilization,  who  with 
keener  analysis  and  more  comprehensive  insight 
feels  the  greater  need. 

It  was  for  the  creation  of  the  Church  as  a 
community  of  saints,  to  be  perfected  in  a  com- 
mon Hfe  in  Him,  that  Christ  commissioned  His 
disciples  to  make  Himself  known,  and  to  adminis- 
ter His  Sacraments  to  the  utmost  parts  of  the 
earth.  This  is  the  adjustment  to  which  in 
reaUty  we  are  called. 


UNITY  OF  CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES 

X  HIS  series  of  editorials  appeared  in  The 
Churchman,  New  York,  of  which  the  author 
of  this  volume  is  the  editor,  during  September 
1905.  Translations  were  made  into  Italian 
from  some  of  these  for  His  Holiness,  Pius  X., 
who  read  them  and  graciously  acknowledged  his 
appreciation. 

I 

Unity  and  Peace.  —  The  attention  of  the 
civilized  world  is  concentrated  upon  those  who 
are  striving  to  establish  terms  of  lasting  peace 
between  Russia  and  Japan,  It  is  a  noble  spec- 
tacle. Possibly  at  no  period  in  history  has  so 
large  a  part  of  humanity  been  interested  in 
finding  a  basis  of  union  for  contending  nations. 
Christians  of  every  name  are  praying  for  peace, 
and  this  is  as  it  should  be;  yet  their  prayers  are 
weakened  by  the  fact  that  the  very  Christians 
who  are  praying  for  unity  and  concord  among 

nations  are  themselves  divided  and  discordant. 

205 


2o6        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

It  is  the  most  hopeful  sign  of  modern  civilization 
that  the  hearts  and  thoughts  of  men  and  nations 
are  turning  to  unity  and  peace.  So  strongly 
has  this  great  Christian  principle  been  impressed 
upon  humanity  that  its  influence  extends  beyond 
the  bounds  of  those  who  profess  Christianity 
till  Nations  seem  to  strive  more  earnestly  and 
practically,  than  Churches,  for  unity  and 
peace. 

The  Church  is  in  the  world  to  gather  all  men 
into  the  Family  of  God.  God  has  predestined 
men  to  become  members  of  His  Family,  and  the 
very  essence  of  a  family  is  unity.  How  can 
Christians  then  be  slow  to  realize  that  the  first 
and  the  final  note  of  Christianity  is  oneness  — 
oneness,  not  the  deadness  of  uniformity;  unity 
in  diversity,  and  diversity  in  unity;  the  greatest 
possible  diversity  in  the  most  perfect  unity;  a 
real,  and  not  an  artificial  catholicity.  Are 
not  Christians  working  too  much  upon  the 
principle  that  they  will  individually  or  denomi- 
nationally acquire  righteousness,  and  after  that, 
unity?  There  can  be  no  perfect  righteousness 
except  as  the  result  of  perfect  unity;  the  right- 
eousness of  a  people  may  be  judged  by  the  meas- 
ure of  their  unity. 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   207 

It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear,  from  practically 
contradictory  standpoints,  the  declaration  that 
there  are  principles  which  cannot  be  sacrificed 
for  the  sake  of  unity.  But  those  who  take  such 
a  position  fail  to  realize  that  the  principle  of 
righteousness  is  sacrificed  when  the  principle  of 
division  is  admitted  as  right.  It  is  one  thing 
to  stand  for  certain  truths  and  principles  as  a 
condition  of  perfect  unity,  but  quite  another  to 
give  up  the  fundamental  principle  of  unity  in 
order  to  stand  for  some  subordinate  principle. 
Nothing  can  come  before  the  principle  of  unity. 
Righteousness,  holiness,  truth  itself,  are  the  re- 
sults of  love.  They  do  not  produce  love.  Love 
produces  them.  Oneness  with  the  Father  and 
the  brethren  is  the  condition  of  the  fulfilling  of 
all  relations,  which  is  only  another  word  for  the 
fulfilling  of  all  righteousness.  The  words  of  St. 
Paul  in  the  Fourth  Chapter  of  Ephesians  seem 
written  to  emphasize  and  magnify  the  principle 
of  oneness.  Yet  they  are  constantly  wrested 
from  their  meaning  and  are  used  as  a  justifica- 
tion for  dividing  the  Family  of  God,  if  some  of 
the  members  of  the  Family  are  not  perfect  in 
their  knowledge  of  God,  in  their  conceptions  of 
the  Faith  and  of  the  Sacraments,  whereas  the 


2o8        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

teaching  from  beginning  to  end  is  that  oneness 
is  of  the  essence  and  nature  of  God's  purpose 
for  His  people  as  members  of  His  Household. 

"I,  therefore,  the  prisoner  in  the  Lord,  be- 
seech you  to  walk,  worthily  of  the  calling 
wherewith  ye  were  called,  with  all  lowliness  and 
meekness,  with  long-suffering,  forbearing  one 
another  in  love;  giving  diHgence  to  keep  the 
unity  of  the  Spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  There 
is  one  body,  and  one  Spirit,  even  as  also  ye  were 
called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling:  one  Lord, 
one  faith,  one  baptism,  one  God  and  Father  of 
all,  who  is  over  all,  and  through  all,  and  in  all." 
It  is  impossible  to  construe  this  passage  so  as  to 
put  anything  before  unity.  It  behooves  Chris- 
tians of  every  name  to  recognize  that  in  the  one 
baptism  they  are  made  members  of  Christ  and 
children  of  God,  and  that  nothing  can  change 
the  fact  of  this  birth,  which  represents  Grod's 
purpose  and  love.  It  stands  as  the  charter  of 
our  inheritance  and  as  the  guarantee  of  a 
Father's  protection  and  a  Father's  love.  It 
was  for  this  cause  that  He  so  loved  the  world 
that  He  sent  His  Son  into  the  world  to  save  it 
unto  Himself. 

Christians  of  every  name,  individually  and 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES    209 

corporately,  need  to  recognize  that  division  is 
not  a  mere  weakness  but  a  sin,  that  it  is  treason 
to  the  Family  of  God,  Let  it  once  be  recognized 
that  division  is  sin,  that  our  obhgation  is  to 
reconcile  the  Family  of  God  to  itself,  that  it 
may  reconcile  the  world  to  Christ,  that  all  differ- 
ences, aU  ignorances,  all  imperfections,  are  to 
be  wrought  out  and  overcome  within  the  Family, 
and  the  attitude  of  the  Christian  Church  will 
be  transformed  and  transfigured.  Then  instead 
of  a  prayer  which  is  belied  by  the  actual  con- 
ditions of  a  divided  Christendom,  content  to  be 
divided  and  defending  its  divisions,  the  life  and 
prayers  of  a  Christendom,  united  at  least  in 
spirit,  will  combine  to  weld  Churches  and 
Nations  into  the  unity  of  the  Spirit  and  the 
bond  of  peace,  and  will  go  far  toward  producing 
righteousness  of  life  in  men  and  in  nations. 

There  is  no  room  here  for  the  claim  that  divine 
principles  will  be  sacrificed  if  unity  is  accepted 
as  the  first  and  final  note  of  the  Christian  Church. 
Divine  principles  and  divine  institutions  are 
for  the  accompUshment  of  divine  ends,  and  to 
recognize  all  these  as  contributory  to  the  great 
principle  of  unity,  which  is  the  law  of  love,  is 
but  to  put  them  in  their  proper  place  and  to 


2IO        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

use  them  for  God's  purpose,  which  is  uniting, 
and  not  for  our  purposes,  that  are  divisive.  To 
so  accept  unity  is  but  to  acquiesce  in  the  purpose 
of  God  for  humanity,  is  but  to  strive  to  fulfil 
that  for  which  He  has  predestined  us,  is  but  to 
accept  His  way  to  the  attainment  of  all  faith, 
of  all  knowledge,  of  all  truth,  and  to  the  perfect- 
ing of  the  whole  Body  of  Christ. 

II 

Should  the  Ministry  be  Given  up  to 
Secure  Unity?  —  A  correspondent  asks  in 
another  column.  Would  you  ''give  up  the  prin- 
ciple and  the  fact  of  the  ApostoHc  Succession 
if  thereby  the  imity  of  Christians  .  .  .  could 
be  secured  to-morrow?"  The  question  is  repre- 
sentative, and,  whether  in  the  form  in  which  Mr. 
Bailey  asks  it  or  in  some  other,  causes  wide  and 
deep  anxiety  whenever  unity  is  discussed.  In 
its  broadest  aspect,  it  is  equivalent  to  asking, 
"Shall  the  ministry  which  has  been  committed 
to  the  Church  as  a  trust  be  given  up?"  The 
answer  is  inevitable  that  such  a  betrayal  of 
trust  is  impossible.  One  cannot  give  up  that 
which  is  not  his.  The  Church  cannot  give  up 
that  which  was  committed  to  her  in  trust.     The 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   211 

moral  obligations  of  so  simple  a  proposition 
cannot  be  escaped. 

But  for  what  purpose  was  the  trust  com- 
mitted? For  what  end  was  the  ministry  insti- 
tuted? Will  any  one  maintain  that  the  ministry 
is  an  end  in  itself?  And  if  it  is  not  an  end  but 
only  a  means,  can  it  be  set  over  against  the  end 
for  which  it  and  all  Apostolic  Order  was  created? 
If  a  means  can  be  so  opposed  to  its  end  as  to 
make  it  an  enemy  of  the  end,  then  one  of  two 
things  must  follow;  either  the  means  is  not  of 
divine  appointment,  or,  if  so,  it  has  been  so 
diverted  from  its  proper  function  as  to  be  used 
to  defeat  the  divine  purpose. 

Not  only  the  ministry  but  the  Church  itself 
exists  for  the  sake  of  unity.  In  the  simplest 
and  the  profoundest  sense,  the  Church  is  Christ's 
normal  method  of  making  men  at  one  with  God 
and  with  each  other.  If  it  were  conceivable 
that  man  could  be  forced  to  choose  between  the 
ministry  and  the  unity  which  it  was  created  to 
promote,  then  unity  would  of  necessity  be  the 
choice  to  the  giving  up  of  everything  else.  But 
such  antagonism  between  God's  purpose  and 
His  methods  is  not  thinkable.  Antagonism, 
if  and  when  it  exists,  must  be  of  man's  own  mak- 


212        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

ing.  Division  has  always  resulted  and  must 
always  result  when  Christians  oppose  God's 
methods  to  His  purpose.  His  methods  make 
for  unity  when  used  or  allowed  to  work  in  accor- 
dance with  His  will.  Our  answer,  therefore,  to 
Mr.  Bailey,  is  that,  as  we  believe  the  Apostolic 
Ministry  to  have  been  instituted  as  a  means  to 
the  unity  and  continuity  of  the  Church,  we 
could  never  give  it  up.  But  if  the  ministry 
has  become  in  our  hands  so  inimical  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  was  established,  as  to  make  it 
possible  for  him  to  ask  his  question,  we  are  per- 
suaded that  it  is  because  the  ministry  is  not 
being  used  or  allowed  to  work  in  accordance 
with  God's  will. 

in 

"Giving  Up"  Will  Not  Produce  Unity.  — 
Negative  methods  will  not  produce  unity.  The 
unity  for  which  Christ  prayed  and  for  which  the 
Church  exists  is  dependent  upon,  but  is  infinitely 
more  than,  methods.  It  is  the  right  relation 
between  persons,  between  God  and  man,  and 
between  man  and  man.  "I  came  that  they 
may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  more  abun- 
dantly," expresses  at  once  the  principle  of  unity 


i 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   213 

and  the  only  power  that  can  produce  it.  The 
question,  therefore,  is  not  what  or  how  much 
shall  be  given  up,  but  to  what  extent  will  men 
co-operate  with  Him  Who  came  to  fulfil  and 
not  to  destroy.  So  long  as  Churches  stand  aloof 
and  demand  one  of  another  that  this  doctrine 
or  this  method  shall  be  acknowledged  to  be 
unessential  and  therefore  given  up,  just  so  long 
will  they  remain  apart.  The  primary  question 
is  not  of  method,  but  of  life.  Are  we  Christ's, 
and  are  we  willing  to  work  with  Him  for  the 
relating  of  men  to  God  and  to  each  other?  Men 
are  asking  to-day  what  was  asked  in  the  begin- 
ning, "Is  Christ  divided?"  Their  difficulty 
with  divided  Christendom  is  not  that  one 
believes  in  the  Westminster  Confession,  another 
in  the  Apostolic  Succession,  and  another  in  an 
infallible  Pope,  and  so  on.  These  are  not  the 
grounds  of  complaint.  The  common  conscience 
of  mankind  is  not  satisfied  that  the  separated 
churches  are  doing  the  will  of  the  Master.  Con- 
vince them  on  this  point  and  they  would  tolerate 
diversity  of  gifts  and  differences  of  administra- 
tion. They  would  rejoice  that  men  of  all  minds 
and  of  all  tastes  and  all  conditions  of  sin  and 
ignorance  were  allowed  to  strive  according  to 


214        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

their  light  to  perform  their  part  as  members  of 
Christ  and  children  of  God  and  inheritors  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  A  common  conscience 
has  a  common  need  and  the  need  common  to 
humanity  is  the  need  of  God  and  of  fellow-men. 
It  is  only  by  recognizing  this  common  need  of 
the  common  conscience  that  divided  Christen- 
dom will  find  a  common  ground  of  agreement. 
Not  until  this  is  secured  will  the  churches  be 
able  to  estimate  justly  the  validity  and  impor- 
tance of  their  disagreements.  How  can  one  in 
a  state  of  disobedience  hope  to  cast  out  the  mote 
of  intellectual  or  other  error  with  which  another's 
vision  is  clouded? 

Unity  will  never  come  through  minimizing 
the  faith,  circumscribing  the  tastes,  or  curtailing 
the  liberty  of  men.  In  any  true  unity,  liberty 
in  non-essentials  will  be  guaranteed  in  the  same 
absolute  way  that  unity  in  essentials  is  secured. 
No  member  of  a  Christian  organization  and  no 
organized  body  of  divided  Christendom  ought 
to  be  made  to  feel  that  what  has  helped  to  a 
knowledge  of  Christ  should  be  given  up,  unless 
it  ceases  to  help  and  a  better  way  is  found.  The 
sacrifice  of  conviction,  of  principle,  of  anything 
that  a  Christian  man  or  a  Christian  body  be- 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   215 

lieves  to  be  of  God,  will  never  make  for  unity 
but  only  for  deadlier  division  in  the  future. 
Christian  comity  and  co-operation,  common 
confidence  and  common  courtesy,  the  readiness 
with  Christ  to  recognize  a  cup  of  cold  water 
given  in  His  name,  is  the  spirit  that  must  prevail 
and  be  cherished  as  a  part  of  the  life  of  Chris- 
tianity, long,  long  before  any  real  unity  will  be 
wrought  out  of  the  present  disastrous  divisions 
of  Christendom.  We  are  not  called  upon  to 
sacrifice  anything  that  is  honestly  believed  to 
be  of  God,  unless  and  until  we  are  led  to  realize 
it  is  not.  It  is  only  required  that  those  who 
look  for  salvation  in  Jesus  Christ  shall  count 
this  common  dependence  on  Him  as  of  more 
value  than  all  disagreements. 

IV 

The  Unifying  Mission  of  the  Church.  — 
The  Church  is  bound  to  apply  all  that  has  been 
entrusted  to  it  as  a  unifying  and  verifying  force 
to  the  world  in  which  it  exists.  If  this  obliga- 
tion is  not  recognized,  the  Church  idea  is  sacri- 
ficed. This  idea  is  that  of  a  kingdom,  one  and 
indivisible,  established  by  Christ  for  the  salva- 
tion of  all  men,  into  which  they  are  to  be  re- 


2i6        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

ceived  and  in  which  with  Him  they  are  to  work 
for  the  salvation  of  all  men.  The  conditions  of 
citizenship  in  this  kingdom  are  so  simple  and  so 
essential  that  they  apply  and  are  capable  of 
being  applied  to  men  in  all  conditions  and  in 
every  clime.  There  are  diversities  of  gifts  and 
differences  of  administration,  but  the  principle 
of  oneness  applies  aUke  to  the  kingdom  and  to 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  established.  So 
completely  has  the  Church  idea  been  sacrificed 
to  some  lesser  idea  that  it  is  difficult  for  Chris- 
tians, and  vastly  more  difficult  for  Churches,  to 
realize,  much  less  acknowledge,  the  primary 
and  fimdamental  principle  of  unity.  So  com- 
pletely has  this  vital  principle  as  a  working  force 
been  obscured  that  the  institutional  idea,  the 
national  idea,  and  even  the  congregational, 
parochial,  and  individualistic  idea  —  all  neces- 
sary parts  of  a  greater  whole  — have  been 
allowed  to  take  precedence  over  the  Church 
idea  until  a  divided  Christendom  is  accepted 
and  defended  as  normal  by  many  and  is  passively 
acquiesced  in  by  almost  all. 

Even  where  there  is  healthy  discontent  with 
present  conditions  there  is  a  disposition  to  lay 
the  blame  on  some  other  Church  or  body  of 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   217 

men,  and  consequently  there  is  failure  to  accept 
and  to  act  upon  the  principle  that  when  one 
member  suffers  all  the  members  suffer.  There 
is  an  ever  widening  conviction  of  the  necessity 
for  the  Church  idea,  and  there  is  a  healthy  long- 
ing for  it  in  every  part  of  Christendom  among 
those  who  are  most  completely  crystallized  in 
human  tradition,  as  well  as  among  those  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  distrust  if  not  to 
despise  tradition. 

All  this  is  encouraging  and  stimulating,  but 
it  is  still  too  much  a  pious  idea  and  not  a  working 
principle;  a  thing  that  it  would  be  well  to  do 
some  time  rather  than  a  thing  to  be  done  now; 
whereas  an  end  to  which  all  energies  must 
bend  if  the  mission  of  the  Church  is  to  be  ful- 
filled, and  we  are  to  be  loyal  to  Him  Who 
commissioned  the  Church  to  represent  Him 
throughout  the  world.  No  conditions  were 
attached  to  His  commission  that  could  ever 
justify  yielding  precedence  to  any  other  idea. 
And  yet  Christendom  is  presented  to  the  world 
to-day  divided  into  great  organized  bodies  whose 
vast  resources  and  numbers  are  devoting  much, 
if  not  most,  of  their  time  to  the  propagation  of 
their  organizations  rather  than  the  preaching 


2i8        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

of  the  Gospel  of  unity  with  God  and  fellow-men. 
In  a  greater  or  less  degree  this  applies  to  all 
bodies  of  Christians.  They  are  all  contributing 
actively  or  passively  to  division  and  therefore 
deserve  to  be  called  sects,  a  name  hateful  to 
each,  and  yet  not  offensive  enough  to  cause  any 
to  cease  to  be  in  fact  sectarian.  The  name  is 
hateful  and  ought  to  become  more  so  till  it  is 
intolerable  to  every  body  of  Christians.  It 
stands  for  enmity  to  the  fundamental  principle 
of  Christianity.  The  great  need  is  that  every 
section  of  Christendom  should  concentrate  atten- 
tion upon  its  own  responsibility  for  present 
divisions  and  in  judging  themselves  to  learn 
righteous  judgment  with  regard  to  their  fellows. 
No  one  will  claim  that  the  full  force  of  Chris- 
tianity with  its  millions  of  adherents  is  effective 
either  locally  or  throughout  the  world  to-day. 
The  antagonisms  between  Christians  are  not 
only  damaging  within,  but  they  are  used  by 
those  without  as  the  strongest  evidence  of  the 
ineffectiveness  of  organized  Christianity. 

We  need  to  grow  up  to  the  Church  idea. 
Without  losing  the  individual,  the  parochial 
and  the  national  idea,  we  should  get  beyond 
them  into  the  greater  idea  of  the  Church.    A 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   219 

Church  which  does  nothing  on  a  national  scale 
is  not  a  national  Church.  A  Church  which 
does  nothing  on  an  international  scale  is  not 
the  Church  of  common  humanity.  Put 
in  this  way,  the  essential  weakness  of  parti- 
san Christianity  —  its  entire  want  of  finality  — 
is  plain  enough.  The  present  religious  situation 
of  the -world  is  largely  the  result  of  long-con- 
tinued conflicts  between  Christians.  For  cen- 
turies a  vast  amount  of  intelligence  and  an 
equally  vast  amount  of  practical  skill  have  been 
expended  in  a  way  which  has  resulted  in  pre- 
senting Christianity  as  a  magnificent  disruptive 
force.  During  this  long  period  great  examples 
of  Christian  living  and  Christian  teaching  have 
been  produced,  and  the  world  has  been  made 
better.  The  experiment  has  been  a  partial 
success,  for  the  inherent  vitality  of  Christ's 
religion  cannot  be  destroyed  by  His  followers 
even  when  they  go  against  its  fundamental  tenet. 
He  works  on  in  His  own  way  to  His  own  great 
ends,  even  when  His  followers  misrepresent  Him 
as  a  divided  force  and  frequently  as  having  a 
divided  purpose.  All  that  Christianity  has 
done  —  its  successes  and  its  victories  —  is  only 
an  earnest  of  what  it  is  capable  of  doing  on  a 


220        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

larger  and  more  world-wide  scale  when  it  has 
learned  to  keep  faithful  to  its  unifying  mission. 


The  Congregationalist  on  Our  Views  of 
Unity.  —  The  following  paragraph  appeared  in 
The  Congregationalist,  Boston,  Mass.,  in  its 
issue  of  September  23: 

"The  Churchman  recently  had  a  powerful 
editorial  on  the  claimant  need  of  Church  unity, 
and  the  evil  of  a  divided  Church  at  a  time  when 
institutional  religion  is  being  treated  with  an 
indifference  more  dangerous  to  it  than  open 
hostility.  In  its  admirable  fervour  The 
Churchman  went  so  far  toward  making  of 
non-importance  many  things  which  Protestant 
Episcopalians  have  stood  for,  that  we  wondered 
just  how  far  it  would  go  if  the  issue  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Succession  were  raised.  One  of  its  readers 
has  raised  it,  and  The  Churchman  now  repHes: 
'Such  a  betrayal  of  trust  is  impossible.  One 
cannot  give  up  that  which  is  not  his.  The 
Church  cannot  give  up  that  which  was  commit- 
ted to  her  in  trust.'  It  proceeds  to  argue  in 
justification  of  its  position,  that  'the  primary 
question  in  all  discussion  of  the  Church  is  not 


UNITY  OF  CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   221 

one  of  method,  but  of  life.'  Precisely  so. 
Spiritual  life  of  the  highest  quality  has  proceeded 
from  and  still  comes  from  ministers  of  the  Gospel 
who  are  not  of  the  Apostolic  Succession  as  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  conceives  it.  The 
common  sense  and  common  conscience  of  man- 
kind will  never  accept  leadership  in  Christian 
unity  from  a  body  which  puts  lineage  above 
character  and  the  mark  of  the  mint  above  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  metal." 

We  give  this  quotation  in  full  in  no  spirit  of 
controversy.  In  the  very  nature  of  the  case  the 
controversial  spirit  will  never  lead  to  unity. 
We  are  in  entire  accord  with  our  contemporary 
in  the  position  that  "the  common  sense  and  com- 
mon conscience  of  mankind  will  never  accept 
leadership  in  Christian  unity  from  a  body 
which  puts  lineage  above  character."  We  are 
prepared  to  go  further,  and  to  say  that  our 
communion  must  bear  whatever  responsibility 
attaches  to  it  for  holding  to  its  lineage  in  such  a 
way  as  to  make  it  possible  for  anyone  to  believe 
that  we  do  put  lineage  above  character.  But  our 
contemporary  will  doubtless  agree  with  us  in 
the  complementary  statement  that  the  common 
sense  and  common  conscience  of  mankind  will 


222         AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

never  accept  leadership  in  Christian  unity  from 
a  body  which  insists  that  lineage  bears  no  rela- 
tion to  character  and  that  the  mark  of  the  mint 
does  not  affect  the  value  of  the  metal.  We  assent 
without  hesitation  to  the  further  statement 
that  "spiritual  life  of  the  highest  quahty  has 
proceeded  from  and  still  comes  from  ministers 
of  the  Gospel  who  are  not  of  the  Apostolic  Suc- 
cession as  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
conceives  it."  But  our  contemporary  will  surely 
agree  that  whatever  heights  the  individual  may 
gain  in  spiritual  effort,  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
community,  whether  it  be  the  village,  the  nation 
or  the  world,  can  never  reach  its  highest  point 
so  long  as  numberless  Christian  bodies  are  at 
war  over  what  the  spiritual  life  is  and  what 
end  it  has  to  serve. 

Just  here  should  be  found  a  common  standing 
for  all  Christians.  In  order  to  find  such 
ground  it  will  be  necessary  for  the  moment  to 
eliminate  all  discussion  of  methods.  It  will  be 
absolutely  hopeless  to  seek  agreement  in  methods 
unless  the  churches  can  agree  that  they  have  in 
common  a  first  and  final  purpose.  Union  with 
God  and  mth  fellow-man  is  the  one  purpose  for 
which    Christ    established    the    Church.    All 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES    223 

Christians  and  all  bodies  of  Christians  ought  to 
be  able  to  accept  this  one  purpose  as  the  end  of 
all  their  endeavour.  From  this  starting  point, 
they  will  inevitably  come  to  realize  that  all  the 
truth  in  all  of  Christendom,  every  part  of  it, 
however  wrested  from  its  proper  place  and  set- 
ting, held  by  any  section  however  small,  is 
necessary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  great 
end.  The  principle  of  inclusion  must  take  the 
place  of  the  principle  of  exclusion;  zeal  must 
cease  to  be  the  enemy  of  love. 

With  the  unintentional  and  unconscious  in- 
ability fairly  to  interpret  another,  which  char- 
acterizes all  Churches  because  of  our  divided 
Christianity,  The  Congregationalist  so  quotes 
us  as  to  leave  the  impression  that  we  would  make 
of  the  Apostohc  Succession  a  barrier  to  the  accep- 
tance of  this  purpose;  that  we  would  insist  not 
only  upon  our  own  fidelity  to  our  own  trust,  but 
that  we  would  insist  upon  imposing  that  trust 
upon  others  who  do  not  recognize  it  as  of  God. 
With  precisely  the  same  emphasis  that  we 
declared  that  we  could  not  give  up  the  trust 
that  we  believed  to  have  been  committed  to 
us  by  God,  we  said  that  we  could  not  ask,  and 
ought  not  to  ask,  other  bodies  of  Christians  to 


224        AN  EIRENIC  ITINERARY 

give  up  what  they  equally  believed  to  be  of  God. 
We  endeavoured  to  force  home  the  principle 
that  unity  would  never  be  secured  by  the  sacri- 
fices of  honest  convictions.  Convictions  may 
change,  but  integrity  must  never  be  sacrificed. 
The  initial  step  must  be  unity  as  to  the  purpose 
of  God  for  His  Church.  The  steps  that  are  to 
follow  that  agreement  must  be  taken  under  the 
guidance  of  the  enhghtening  and  inspiring  Spirit 
of  God. 

We  would  not,  if  we  could,  absorb  into  our 
own  communion  or  into  any  other,  as  it  exists 
to-day,  the  whole  of  Christendom.  No  one  com- 
munion possesses  in  and  of  itself  a  spirit  catholic 
enough  or  a  practice  comprehensive  enough  to 
meet  the  needs  of  humanity.  That  spirit  will 
come  only  by  the  inclusion  of  all  the  truth  of  all 
the  churches  in  one  mighty  enterprise  for  Christ. 

Our  whole  contention  is  that  it  is  useless  to 
discuss  methods  until  agreement  is  reached  as 
to  what  purpose  is  sought  by  them;  and  that 
no  purpose  is  truly  a  purpose  until  it  intends  and 
confidently  expects  to  go  on  to  its  full  end  or 
effect.  That  therefore  until  Christendom  accepts 
unity  as  its  purpose,  and  means  to  accomplish  it, 
unity  even  in  its  beginnings  will  not  be  accom- 


UNITY  OF   CHRISTIAN   CHURCHES   225 

plished.  "Let  us  perfectly  know  that  one  fully 
means  a  certain  act  or  a  certain  part  toward  us, 
and  that  fact  establishes  a  status  between  us 
as  complete  as  though  he  had  already  fulfilled 
it."  The  Churches,  like  individuals,  content 
themselves  with  trying  to  be  at  one  with  God. 
They  do  not  try  in  the  sense  of  meaning  to  be 
at  one  with  each  other.  They  do  not  yet 
realize  that  they  cannot  be  at  one  with  God 
unless  they  are  at  one  with  each  other;  there- 
fore they  are  deceiving  themselves  and  mis- 
leading the  world. 

So  great  has  become  humanity's  need  of  a 
common  reUgion  that  even  those  who  are  not 
Christians  are  asking  the  question,  What  is 
Christianity?  Christ  has  an  answer  and  His 
representatives  ought  to  be  able  to  give  it  with 
no  uncertain  sound.  But  a  divided  Church 
cannot  give  a  united  answer.  A  discordant 
Church  cannot  speak  the  truth  with  power. 
"Back  to  Christ,"  is  a  demand  for  which  no 
Christian  Church  can  escape  responsibility; 
back  to  Christ's  purpose  —  the  union  of  men 
with  God  and  with  each  other;  back  to  His 
way  —  the  union  of  men  with  God  and  with 
each  other  in  His  one  Body, 


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